blip
A blip is a brief interruption or disturbance in something smooth.
You might hear about a blip on the radar screen when there's an unexpected reading. This means that for a short time, the normal signal was disrupted by some noise or other interference. In real life, we use this word to talk about small problems that come and go quickly. If your phone has a blip in service, you might lose signal for just a minute before it comes back on. A doctor might say there's been a blip in the patient's recovery – meaning they're not doing well for a short time, but then their condition improves again.
How common is "blip"?
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
verb
To emit one or more bleeps.
Example: The robot bleeped to acknowledge its new instructions.
noun
A small dot registered on electronic equipment, such as a radar or oscilloscope screen.
verb
To change state abruptly, such as between off and on or dark and light, sometimes implying motion.
Real examples of "blip" in context
