Blip

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  blip \blip\ n.
     1. (Radar) a spot of light on a radar screen, showing the
        position of a reflecting surface, such as an airplane or
        ship.
  
     Note: this sense is also used metaphorically to mean a barely


           perceptible object;, Kennedy's candidacy was a mere
           blip on Humphrey's radar screen until he won the West
           Virginia primary. This is the probably origin of sense
           3.
  
     Syn: radar echo, radar target.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. a short upward or downward deviation from a trend line on
        a graph, especially in a plot of some variable, such as an
        economic variable, against time; as, a brief blip upward
        in the unemployment rate.
        [PJC]
  
     3. something small or insignificant.
        [PJC]
  
     4. a brief interruption in the continuity of a recorded or
        transmitted signal; as, there is a blip on my CD of
        Beethoven's ninth.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  blip
       n 1: a sudden minor shock or meaningless interruption; "the
            market had one bad blip today"; "you can't react to the
            day-to-day blips"; "renewed jitters in the wake of a
            blip in retail sales"
       2: a radar echo displayed so as to show the position of a
          reflecting surface [syn: {pip}, {radar target}]
       [also: {blipping}, {blipped}]