Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel, ii

370. 5. A mischievous child. "Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray Of squabbling imps ."- Beattie : Minstrel , bk. i. 6. Anything added or joined on to another to lengthen it out or to repair it; as, (1) an addition to a bee-hive; (2) a length of twisted hair in a fishing-line; (3) a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird. *Imp, *impe, v . t . [IMP, 8. Wel. impio: Dan. ympe; Sw. yтра; О. H. Ger. imp itón , imphón; Ger. impfen ; Fr. enter.] 1. To graft, to engraft. 2. To supply with new feathers; a term of fal conry. "To imp their serpent wings."