lipped

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of lip.

   The putt lipped the cup and spun away at the last moment.

   He had lipped the mouthpiece and held one long, steady note.

   Note

   The verb lip doubles its p before -ed, so its past forms look exactly like the adjective. Most of its meanings take an object: water lips the stones, a rim lips a bowl. One meaning stands alone, for a liquid rising to the brim that simply lips over. If there is an object, read it as touching or lapping. If there is none, read it as brimming.

   All night the tide lipped the old stone steps.

   The cream rose and lipped over the edge of the jug.

2. 2
   adjectivein compounds

   Having lips of some specified type, as named by a modifying word attached in front.

   The sculptor gave the statue a full-lipped, serene expression.

   Her thin-lipped profile appeared on the worn old coins.

   Note

   This is the back half of a compound, and the front half does the describing: thin-lipped, sweet-lipped, smooth-lipped, vermilion-lipped. The front word can name shape, texture or color. The lips need not be human. Wordsworth's smooth-lipped shell and Melville's thick-lipped leviathan carry it to shells and whales. Crashaw's sweet-lipp'd of 1646 shows an older clipped spelling, and the modern compound is joined with a hyphen.

3. 3
   adjective

   Having a raised edge or rim, as on a container, shelf, or other surface.

   The potter shaped a lipped rim to make pouring cleaner and easier.

   Each shelf has a lipped front that keeps the jars in place during transport.

   Similarrimmed, edged, flanged

   Oppositelipless, unlipped

   Note

   The noun lip takes the -ed that means "having," just as a bearded face has a beard: a lipped pitcher has a lip to pour from. It is an either-or word, so nothing is "more lipped" than another, and its opposites are lipless and unlipped. The same spelling belongs to the past tense of the verb, where -ed marks time rather than possession.

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