Word guide
Pips Meaning: What Are Pips?
A pip is one of the small dots on a domino, a die or a playing card. The NYT game Pips is named after them, because you solve it by counting the dots on dominoes.
Pips on dominoes
Each domino is split into two halves, and each half shows a number of pips. In a standard double-six set that number runs from 0 (a blank) to 6, which gives 28 different dominoes, from 0-0 up to 6-6. A domino with the same number on both halves, such as 4-4, is called a double.
In the NYT Pips game the pips are what the rules refer to. A region marked 9 needs the pips inside it to add up to nine, and a region marked “=” needs every cell to show the same number of pips.
Pips on dice and cards
The dots on a die are also pips: the six faces carry one to six of them. On playing cards, the suit symbols printed in the middle of a number card are pips too, so the seven of hearts has seven heart pips.
Where does the word come from?
“Pip” has been used for the spots on cards and dice since the 1600s. An earlier spelling was “peep”. Its origin beyond that is uncertain.
Other meanings of pips
- Fruit pips: the small seeds of apples, pears, oranges and grapes, mainly in British English.
- Trading: in currency markets a pip is the smallest standard price move, usually 0.0001 of a quoted rate.
- Rank badges: the stars on a British Army officer's shoulder are informally called pips.
- Time signal: “the pips” are the short tones broadcast on the hour by BBC radio.
Pips in the NYT game
If you came here because of the puzzle, these pages will help more: