# slip

Pronunciation: say "SLIP" /slɪp/

## Verb

1. To slide accidentally and lose one's footing or grip; of a thing, to slide suddenly out of position or out of someone's grasp.
   - Simple: To slide by accident, so you lose your balance, or so something slides out of place or out of your hand.
   - _He slipped on the icy steps outside his front door._
   - _Hikers often slip where wet leaves cover the trail._
2. To move quickly and often secretly, departing, entering, or escaping as if by sliding.
   - Simple: To move quickly and quietly, often so no one notices.
   - _The thief slipped through the alley and vanished into the crowd._
   - _Guests began to slip away before the speeches ended._
3. To decline or drop gradually, as if sliding downward.
   - Simple: To go down little by little, as numbers or quality.
   - _The team's ranking slipped after three straight losses._
   - _Standards tend to slip when no one is watching._
4. To put, move, or pass something somewhere quickly, smoothly, or secretly, including sliding it on or off (as clothing, a ring, or a chain).
   - Simple: To put, move, or give something quickly and quietly, or slide something on or off, like shoes or a chain.
   - _She slipped the bookmark between the pages._
   - _Carefully slip the tray into the oven._
8. To elude or evade something through smooth, gliding movement.
   - Simple: To get away from someone or something with a smooth, easy move.
   - _The boxer slipped the punch and countered instantly._
   - _Smugglers slip the patrols by hugging the dark coastline._
9. To make a mistake or act wrongly, often through carelessness; especially, to say or reveal something one did not mean to.
   - Simple: To make a mistake, especially by accidentally saying something you meant to keep secret.
   - _My brother is so excited that he's bound to slip and mention the surprise party in front of Mom._
   - _She slipped in her reasoning and reached the wrong conclusion._
11. To allow a schedule, release, or deadline to move past its planned date.
   - Simple: To let a deadline or planned date move to a later time.
   - _Management slipped the project deadline by two weeks._
   - _When the supplier falls behind, we slip the ship date accordingly._
20. To remove the skin from a soft fruit such as a tomato or peach by blanching it briefly in boiling water, then cooling it so the skin peels off easily.
   - Simple: To take the skin off a soft fruit by dipping it in boiling water, then cold water.
   - _After a quick dip in boiling water and a plunge into ice, the tomato skins are easy to slip off with your fingers._
   - _Every August my grandmother blanched bushels of peaches and slipped their skins off before canning them._
23. To release a dog, hawk, or other animal so it can pursue its quarry.
   - Simple: To let a dog or hawk go so it can chase its prey.
   - _The huntsman slipped the lurcher down the long ride after the fox._
   - _On the keeper's signal, the boys slip the terriers into the undergrowth._

## Noun

5. A small, narrow piece of paper or other material, especially paper bearing information or meant for writing on.
   - Simple: A small, narrow piece of paper or other material, often with information written or printed on it.
   - _Each voter received a slip listing the candidates._
   - _He tucked the deposit slip into his wallet._
6. A single act or occurrence of losing one's footing and sliding.
   - Simple: A moment when your foot slides and you lose your balance, and sometimes fall.
   - _A quick slip on the muddy bank soaked his boots._
   - _The gymnast recovered fast after a slip on the beam._
7. A small mistake or lapse in what one says or does, including a brief return to a harmful habit one is trying to give up.
   - Simple: A small mistake, or a short return to a bad habit you are trying to stop.
   - _His slip in the report embarrassed the whole department._
   - _A single slip in her testimony changed the verdict._
12. A woman's undergarment worn beneath a skirt or dress to keep the outer garment from revealing too much; a shift.
   - Simple: A thin piece of clothing a woman wears under a dress or skirt.
   - _A lace slip peeked out beneath the hem of her gown._
   - _She wore a silk slip under her thin summer dress._
10. A berth; a space where a ship can be moored at a dock.
   - Simple: A space at a dock where a boat can be tied up.
   - _The harbor patrol found the sailboat empty in its slip._
   - _Larger boats wait for a wider slip near the fuel dock._
13. A ramp sloping into the water, used for launching, hauling out, or repairing vessels; a slipway.
   - Simple: A sloping ramp where boats are moved into or out of the water.
   - _The lifeboat shot down the slip and hit the water within seconds._
   - _Workers repainted the hull while it rested on the slip at low tide._
14. In cricket, any of several fielding positions beside and behind the batsman on the off side, next to the wicket-keeper, designed to catch the ball deflected off the bat; also a fielder so positioned.
   - Simple: In cricket, a fielder near the wicket-keeper who catches the ball after it touches the edge of the bat.
   - _A thick edge flew straight to slip, who took the catch low to the ground._
   - _Three slips and a gully waited for the new batsman's nervous prod._
15. A thin, slippery mixture of clay and water, used in ceramics.
   - Simple: A runny mixture of clay and water, used in making pottery.
   - _He scored the edges and smeared slip between the two pieces to bond them._
   - _The studio mixed a fresh batch of slip for the morning casting session._
16. A slipdress; a light, simple dress cut to hang straight from thin shoulder straps.
   - Simple: A light, loose dress that hangs from thin shoulder straps.
   - _She wore a black satin slip to the party, with a denim jacket over it._
   - _She layered a sheer blouse under the camel slip for the office._
17. An outer covering or case, such as a cloth cover that slides over a pillow or cushion.
   - Simple: A cloth cover that fits over something, like a pillow.
   - _He pulled a fresh linen slip over the sofa cushion._
   - _My grandmother still calls pillowcases slips, and she irons every one of them._
18. A young person, especially a slight or slender one, often described in phrases like 'a slip of a girl.'
   - Simple: A small, thin young person, usually a child or teenager.
   - _The newcomer was just a slip of a boy, dwarfed by the older apprentices._
   - _Few expected such a frail slip of a thing to win the long race._
19. A twig or shoot taken from a plant; a cutting.
   - Simple: A small piece cut from a plant so it can grow into a new one.
   - _He took a slip from the geranium to start a new plant._
   - _Gardeners often share slips of their favorite herbs._
21. An escape; a secret or unexpected getting away or desertion.
   - Simple: An escape, especially a quiet or sudden getting away from someone.
   - _The cat gave us the slip again and spent the whole night roaming the neighborhood._
   - _The prisoner gave his guards the slip while being moved to another jail._
22. A leash or cord for holding a dog, made so it can be released or slipped loose by relaxing the hand.
   - Simple: A loose leash that lets go of a dog quickly when the hand relaxes.
   - _He kept both hounds straining against the slip as the beaters advanced._
   - _A single tug freed the dog from the slip in an instant._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To leave something out, or to let a chance go through carelessness.
- (verb) To take cuttings from a plant, or to cut a piece away from something.
- (verb) Of an animal, to give birth to young too early, before they are fully developed.
- (noun) The gap between how far a propeller would push a vessel in one turn in theory and how far the vessel really moves.
- (noun) A measure of how far an induction motor's rotor lags its rotating magnetic field, as a fraction of the field's speed, usually from 0 to 1.
- (noun) A sideways movement of an aircraft through the air, rather than along the direction it points.
- (noun) A section of newspaper columns printed off on its own, especially a trial print of set type taken from the galley.
- (noun) An apron-like garment worn over a child's clothes.
- (noun) A fake coin made of brass with a thin coating of silver.
- (noun) The sludge left in the trough of a grindstone after blades and other cutting tools have been sharpened on it.
- (noun) A set amount of yarn used as a unit of measure.
- (noun) An alley or tight lane squeezed in among buildings.
- (noun) Seating at the far left and right ends of a theater's upper balcony.
- (noun) A long church bench, often doorless and not very wide.
- (noun) A break in a vein of ore where the rock has shifted, so the vein no longer runs continuously.
- (noun) In data transmission, a shift in the position of a sequence of symbols that causes one or more to be dropped or added.
- (noun) The sole, a kind of flatfish.
- (noun) A bulletin from the person who runs a cryptic crossword competition for invented clues, giving every winner's name and remarks on the entries.
- (noun) An offspring or descendant of a family.
- (noun) A broker's note describing a risk to be insured, used to draw up the policy and usually initialed by the underwriters who accept it.
- (noun) Wet, sticky dirt or ooze.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 6–14, 16–17, 20–23** — Middle English slippen probably came from Middle Low German slippen. Its ultimate source is Proto-Germanic *slipjaną ("to glide"), an iterative of *slīpaną ("to slip, slide"), which goes back to *sleyb- ("slimy, to slide") in Proto-Indo-European. Old English slipor ("slippery") is related.
**Meanings 5, 18–19** — This probably comes from slippe, a word of Middle Dutch or of Middle Low German, and in the end it likely has a link to *slīban, which meant "to split" in Proto-West Germanic.
**Meaning 15** — Old English slyp, slyppe, or slipa ("a viscous, slimy substance") became Middle English slyp, though where the Old English word came from is uncertain. One possible source is Proto-Germanic *sleupaną ("to slip, sneak"), and another is *slippijaną ("to glide"). Old English slūpan ("to slip, glide") is comparable.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/slip (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).