tip

TIP/tɪp/

Pluraltips

Verbtips, tipping, tipped

31 meanings of tip

Practice

1
advicenouncountable
A piece of advice, especially a practical suggestion for doing something more effectively.
The article offers tips for saving money on groceries.
Her best tip for new gardeners is to start small.
UsageUsually a tip for or a tip on something: tips for saving money, tips on gardening.
Similarhint, pointer, suggestion
Note
The open, shareable cousin of the inside-information sense: nothing secret, just practical know-how, as in the fixed pairing tips and tricks.
2
nouncountable
The pointed, narrow, or extreme end of something long or tapering, such as a pencil, a finger, or a bow.
The arrow's tip was made of hardened steel.
Snow covered the tips of the mountains well into June.
UsageCommon in set phrases: on the tip of my tongue (almost remembered) and the tip of the iceberg.
Similarpoint, end, peak, top
3
extra moneynouncountable
A small amount of money given to a waiter, bartender, taxi driver, or other service worker as a token of appreciation.
He added a twenty percent tip to the restaurant bill.
Hotel housekeepers often depend on tips to supplement their wages.
UsageYou leave a tip or give someone a tip. Not the same as a tip that gives you information.
Similargratuity
Note
Older English could measure the money by its coin: in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), a half-crown tip opens up a deputy's knowledge. The plural is the income word for porters, waiters and hotel staff, who, as a speaker in Hemingway's A Moveable Feast says, 'only work for tips'.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, first published in 1897. britishlibrary.cn
In Dracula, a half-crown tip obtains information from a deputy. gutenberg.org
Ernest Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast. fadedpage.com
The words 'only work for tips' occur in A Moveable Feast, spoken by Scott Fitzgerald about hotel service workers. fadedpage.com
4
pay extraverbtransitive or intransitive
To give a small gratuity to someone, especially a worker who provides a service.
Many diners tip generously around the holidays.
He tipped the bellhop who carried his luggage upstairs.
UsageThe person is the object: tip the waiter. An amount can follow: tip him five dollars.
Note
The gratuity verb began as thieves' slang of uncertain origin and became thoroughly respectable. In Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, someone asks, 'Did you tip him enough to do any good?' Encouraging or discouraging tipping is itself a matter of local custom.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The gratuity verb derives from thieves' slang and has an uncertain ultimate origin. en.wiktionary.org
In Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Scott Fitzgerald asks the quoted question. fadedpage.com
Tipping customs differ by location. en.wikipedia.org
5
inside informationnouncountable
A piece of private or insider information, especially about sporting odds, share prices, or business performance, passed on by someone with expert knowledge.
Acting on a tip from a stable hand, she backed the long shot.
Police received an anonymous tip about the warehouse robbery.
UsageOften a tip from someone or a tip about something, as in an anonymous tip to the police.
Similarhint, lead
Note
Its point is privileged knowledge: hot stock tips, a tip from a stable hand, an anonymous tip to the police. Its value lies in who knew first, which is why the verb for passing such information turns up in insider-trading law.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The verb tip, meaning to pass inside information, occurs in insider-trading law. supremecourt.gov
6
verbtransitive or intransitive
To be or move into a tilted or sloping position, or to cause something to do so; to become or make unbalanced.
The waiter tipped the bottle to read the label on the back.
The raft began to tip as everyone moved to one side.
UsageOften used with a direction word, such as tip back, tip forward, or tip something up.
Similartilt, lean, incline, slant
Note
Here the movement stops short of falling. In Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), a boat would 'tip for an instant on the knife-like edge' of a wave before dipping into the hollow behind it. Where the overturning sense ends with something on its side, this one ends at a slant or off balance.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick. gutenberg.org
Moby-Dick was first published in 1851. en.wikipedia.org
The quoted words describe a boat tipping on a wave in Moby-Dick. gutenberg.org
7
overturnverbtransitive or intransitive
To knock over or cause to overturn, or to fall down or become overturned.
A sudden gust tipped the canoe, spilling both paddlers into the lake.
Stack the boxes evenly so the pile doesn't tip.
UsageUsually tip over: the canoe tipped over, or a gust tipped it over.
Similaroverturn, topple, upset, capsize
Oppositeright
8
cover the endverbtransitive
To provide the end of something with a covering or point; to cover the very end of something.
Manufacturers tip the drill bits with tungsten carbide for cutting masonry.
The fletcher tipped every arrow with a barbed head.
UsageUsually tip something with something, often as tipped with gold or steel-tipped.
Note
Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing tips horns with gold, and Butler's Hudibras has a truncheon tipped with an iron head. The figure stretches easily to light, as when Rider Haggard's moon in She tipped the foam of a breaking wave.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing contains an example of tipping horns with gold, spoken by Claudio. gutenberg.org
Samuel Butler's Hudibras describes a truncheon tipped with an iron head. gutenberg.org
H. Rider Haggard's She describes the moon tipping a breaking wave's foam with light. gutenberg.org
9
inform secretlyverbtransitive
To give private or secret information to someone; to inform someone of a clue or piece of insider knowledge.
An anonymous caller tipped police to the location of the stolen car.
Sources inside the studio regularly tip entertainment bloggers about casting decisions.
UsageMost often tip off: tip someone off about something. Also tip the police to a place.
Similaralert, inform
Note
In finance and securities law, the gerund tipping has become a term in its own right for passing on inside information that others then trade on. In that field it is a precise and serious word, not a casual one.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
In finance and securities law, tipping denotes communicating inside information to someone who then trades on it. morganlewis.com
10
nouncountable
A small piece of metal, rubber, fabric, or other material fitted onto the end of something to protect, improve, or decorate it, such as a steel toe tip or an earbud's soft tip.
The bootmaker added steel tips to protect the toes from impact.
The pool cue's leather tip needed replacing after years of play.
Similarcap, ferrule

Less common meanings

11
push away (ball)verbtransitive
To deflect something with the fingers, especially the fingertips.
The goalkeeper tipped the shot over the crossbar in the final minute.
A tall defender can tip the pass away before it reaches the shooter.
UsageUsually with a direction: tip a shot wide, tip it over the bar.
Similardeflect, palm, tap
Note
Above all a goalkeeper's verb: a shot is tipped wide or tipped over the bar. It is often passive, with the keeper named after 'by': a 25-yard curler tipped wide by Cech. Listen for the word of direction that follows, because it says where the ball went once the fingertips touched it. The matching noun names the save itself: an athletic tip over the top.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Cech tipped a 25-yard curling shot wide, as described in the cited match report. en.wiktionary.org
12
nounUKAustraliacountable
A prediction of how something will turn out, such as which team will win a game, including a pick made in a tipping competition.
His tip that the champion would lose in the first round proved correct.
The racing pages print tips for every horse race of the weekend.
Similarprediction, forecast, pick
13
pour outverbtransitive
To empty out the contents of a container by tilting it.
He tipped the bucket of soapy water down the drain.
Tip the cooked rice into a serving bowl and fluff it with a fork.
UsageUsually with a direction: tip the water down the drain, tip the rice into a bowl.
Similarpour, empty, dump
14
nounCommonwealthIrelandUKcountable
(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A place where rubbish or waste is taken to be dumped or recycled, or the heap of waste, such as spoil from a mine or quarry, that builds up there.
We loaded the trailer with garden waste and drove to the tip.
Slag from the colliery built up into a huge tip above the village.
UsageUsually the tip: go to the tip, a rubbish tip.
Similardump, landfill, heap
Note
It belongs with the verb meaning to tilt and empty out, since a tip is where loads are tipped. In old mining country it also names the heaps of colliery spoil left on hillsides, often called slag heaps.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The dump noun belongs with the verb meaning to tilt and empty out. en.wiktionary.org
Colliery spoil heaps called tips were deposited on hillsides. en.wikipedia.org
15
verbarchaic
To strike quickly and lightly; to tap.
A third rogue tips me by the elbow.
1708, Squire Bickerstaff Detected, John Partridge
Note
A light-touch verb that has mostly gone quiet. The pamphlet Squire Bickerstaff Detected, from the Bickerstaff hoax of the early 1700s, still writes 'a third rogue tips me by the elbow'. In modern prose, tap does this job, and a reader meeting this sense today should expect older texts.
16
throw out rubbishverbtransitive
To dump refuse or other waste material.
Contractors tipped the rubble at an unlicensed site outside town.
Residents may tip yard waste at the county landfill on weekends.
Similardump
17
nouncountable
An act of deflecting something with the fingers, especially the fingertips.
The keeper's desperate tip sent the shot over the bar.
A slight tip at the line of scrimmage altered the pass's flight.
Similardeflection, touch
18
a slight tiltnouncountable
An act of tilting something up or to one side.
With a slight tip of her head, she signaled that it was time to leave.
He acknowledged the crowd with a tip of his cap.
UsageCommon in a tip of the hat or a tip of the cap, a small greeting or show of thanks.
Similartilt
19
messy placenouncolloquialcountable
A very untidy or messy place.
After three weeks of deadlines, his apartment had become a complete tip.
She refused to invite anyone over while the house was such a tip.
UsageOften a complete tip or such a tip, said of a room or house.
Similarmess, pigsty, dump
20
nounarchaic
A light blow; a quick, gentle tap.
21
verbUKAustraliatransitive
To predict that someone or something will have a particular outcome, especially success, including naming the expected winner of a game in a tipping competition.
Analysts tip the company to double its profits within two years.
Critics had tipped the film for major awards months before its release.
UsageOften passive: tipped to win, tipped for an award.
Similarpredict, fancy, expect
22
bit of meatnouncountableplural
A small piece of meat.
The diner serves sirloin tips over rice with brown gravy.
She speared a pork tip from the skillet to check that it was cooked through.
UsageComes after the meat, as on menus: beef tips, sirloin tips over rice.
23
verbdatedtransitive
To drink.
Similardrink, quaff, down
Note
This is old slang for drinking, and it takes the drink as its object: tip a pint, tip one's ale. It is dated now and mostly read as period color in scenes of taverns and travelers.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Tip is historical slang meaning to drink and is transitive, taking the drink as its object. en.wiktionary.org
24
noun
In hatmaking, the piece of stiffened lining fixed with paste inside the crown.
25
noun
A flat, thin gilder's brush of camel hair, set between pieces of card, for picking up gold leaf and laying it down.
26
verbUS
To spill some drink out on the ground as an offering, especially from a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor in honor of someone who has died.
27
nounobsolete
The act or an instance of toppling a pin in skittles.
28
noun
A wagon or car on rails used to move coal quickly from one place to another.
29
verb
To hand something over to someone.
30
noun
A phase someone is going through, or the way they are acting these days.
31
noun
A particular field or area of concern, as in on the political tip.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of tip apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 2, 8, 10, 22

From Middle English tip, typ, tippe ("tip"), related to words meaning "tip" in Frisian, Dutch, Low German, Danish, and Swedish, and to Icelandic typpi ("knob, pin").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Tip derives from Middle English tip, typ, tippe, meaning tip. en.wiktionary.org
Tip is related to words meaning tip in Frisian, Dutch, Low German, Danish, and Swedish. en.wiktionary.org
Tip is related to Icelandic typpi, which has the meanings knob and pin. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 6–7, 11, 13–14, 16–19, 23

One idea is that the verb is a special use of Etymology 1. Another is that it came from a North Germanic or Scandinavian language, and Swedish tippa, "to topple over," is similar. Either way, it is recorded in Late Middle English as tippen.

Meanings 15, 20

No one is certain where it comes from. Perhaps it is connected with the first word tip (Etymology 1), with cognates such as Swedish tippa, German tippen and Dutch tippen.

Meanings 3–4

This word started out in the slang of thieves. Where it came from is not certain, but it is probably tied to sense 1.

Meanings 1, 5, 9, 12, 21

It most likely comes from tip meaning "to give, pass," from tip meaning "to tap," or from both together.