Crossword Genius

One who pinches a child (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nipper

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'child' is the definition.
(I know that child can be written as nipper)

'one who pinches a' is the wordplay.
'one who pinches' becomes 'nip' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a' becomes 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day').
'nip'+'per'='NIPPER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nipper that I've seen before include "Kid - claw" , "Little kid" , "Infant (colloq.)" , "Crab - young shaver?" , "Child - ankle-biter?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app