sip

Pluralsips

Formssips, sipping, sipped

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A small mouthful of a drink, taken in one swallow.

   He paused for a sip of coffee between sentences.

   Just one sip of the wine told her it had gone bad.

   Similarmouthful, taste, swallow, drop

   Oppositegulp

   Note

   The everyday noun rests on an old verb of uncertain origin: Middle English sippen, matched by Low German sippen. It may be a variant of suppen, a cousin of sup, or it may descend from Old English sipian, 'to soak', from a Germanic root meaning 'to drip, trickle'. Countable and small by nature, it pairs with of: a sip of coffee, one sip of wine.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To drink something slowly, a small mouthful at a time.

   They sip their cocktails and watch the sunset.

   She sipped the broth slowly to savor the flavor.

   Similarnurse, savor, taste

   Oppositegulp, guzzle, swig

   Note

   Here the verb takes the drink as its object: you sip broth, a scotch and soda, lattes. Meade Falkner's Moonfleet (1898) sets it against drinking 'at a gulp', and that contrast is the heart of the word. Without an object, as in 'they sipped quietly', it becomes the intransitive use; with one, it describes how a particular drink is taken.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To drink a small quantity, taking little at a time.

   They sipped quietly while the speaker droned on.

   Guests are welcome to sip and chat in the lounge.

   Oppositegulp, guzzle

4. 4
   verbfigurativelytransitive

   To consume something slowly, a little at a time.

   The device sips power, so the battery lasts for days.

   Efficient burners sip fuel even under heavy load.

   Oppositeguzzle

   Note

   Machines do the drinking in this figurative use: lightbulbs that sip electricity, a Chevy Cobalt that sips petrol. The image is of small, steady intake, so it often praises efficiency, as The Economist did in 2008. It can also turn wary. Devices that 'idly sip electricity' even when switched off are quietly costing money. The object is the energy itself: fuel, power, electricity.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To taste the contents of a vessel; to drink from a cup or glass.

   He sipped the chalice before passing it on.

   They sip the shared bowl as part of the ceremony.

   Note

   A poetic stretch makes the source, not the drink, the object. In Dryden's translation of Virgil (1697), bees 'skim the floods, and sip the purple flowers': they sip the flowers, not the nectar inside them. Compare the everyday transitive verb, whose object is the drink itself, as in sip your tea. Here the object is the cup, bowl or blossom that is drunk from.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A social gathering at which people drink alcohol in small, usually sub-intoxicating amounts.

   The winery invited members to a monthly sip in the cellar.

   Their fundraiser was billed as a quiet sip rather than a party.

   Note

   Here the drink names the occasion. Joseph Beam in 1985 sets 'a smart cocktail sip' beside 'a basement gig', and the pairing shows its register: polished, low-key, more about company than about drinking. A modifier such as cocktail helps the reader take it as a gathering rather than a single mouthful.

Showing meanings only. Show all 7