Clipper
a name familiarly given to a ship built expressly for speed. A Clipper, as compared with an ordinary sailing ship, was longer and narrower; very sharp at the bows, which were generally hollowed more or less below the water-line; gracefully fined away toward the stern, which was usually elliptical; and altogether presenting the contrast of the race-horse to the beast of burden.
Clipper ships were extensively employed in the South American, California, and China trade.