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Entry 6 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Imp

/(ĭmp)/ · IPA /ɪmp/
01 n. A shoot; a scion; a bud; a slip; a graft.
  1. 1.
    A shoot; a scion; a bud; a slip; a graft.[Obs.]
  2. 2.
    An offspring; progeny; child; scion.[Obs.]
    “The tender imp was weaned.” — Fairfax.
  3. 3.
    A young or inferior devil; a little, malignant spirit; a puny demon; a contemptible evil worker.
    “To mingle in the clamorous fray Of squabbling imps.” — Beattie.
  4. 4.
    Something added to, or united with, another, to lengthen it out or repair it, -- as, an addition to a beehive; a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird; a length of twisted hair in a fishing line.[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
02 v. t. To graft; to insert as a scion.
imp. & p. p. Imped; p. pr. & vb. n. Imping
  1. 1.
    To graft; to insert as a scion.[Obs.]
  2. 2.
    To graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather.(Falconry) [Fig.]
    “Imp out our drooping country's broken wing.” — Shak.
    “Who lazily imp their wings with other men's plumes.” — Fuller.
    “Here no frail Muse shall imp her crippled wing.” — Holmes.
    “Help, ye tart satirists, to imp my rage With all the scorpions that should whip this age.” — Cleveland.