slip
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Slip
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English slippen, probably from Middle Low German slippen, from Old Saxon *slippian, from Proto-West Germanic *slippjan, from Proto-Germanic *slipjaną (“to glide”), an iterative form of *slīpaną (“to slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to slide”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), or related to Proto-Germanic *slībaną (“to split”); related to Old English slipor (“slippery”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian slipje (“to slip”), Dutch slippen (“to slip”), German Low German slippen, slupen (“to slip”), German schlüpfen (“to slip”).
Verb
slip (third-person singular simple present slips, present participle slipping, simple past and past participle slipped or (obsolete) slipt)
- (intransitive) To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
- 1960 March, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 184:
- [...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, […]
- 2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao’s Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian:
- Fernando Amorebieta seemed to have checked him, but a stepover created a fraction of room that became significant as the defender slipped, giving Falcao just enough space to curl a superb finish into the top corner.
- (intransitive) To err.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 19:16:
- There is one that slippeth in his speech, but not from his heart.
- (intransitive) To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentionally.
- (intransitive) To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc.
- A bone may slip out of place.
- (transitive) To elude or evade by smooth movement.
- I caught the thief, but he slipped my grasp and ran away.
- (transitive) To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.
- She thanked the porter and slipped a ten-dollar bill into his hand.
- (transitive) To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.
- 1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter XI. The Apprehending, Examination, and Imprisonment of Jack, for Suspicion of Poisoning.”, in Miscellanies, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], →OCLC, page 119:
- Tvvo other VVitneſſes gave the follovving Evidence; That in his officious Attendance upon his Miſtreſs, he had try'd to ſlip a Povvder into her Drink, and that he vvas once catch'd endeavouring to ſtifle her vvith a Pillovv as ſhe vvas aſleep; […]
- (intransitive) To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.
- Some errors slipped into the appendix.
- 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Thrice the flitting shadow slipped away.
- 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, canto II:
- Thus one tradesman slips away, / To give his partner fairer play.
- 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
- We slipped along the hedges, noiseless and swift […]
- 1981 December 12, Scott Tucker, “Bring On The Cannon”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 21, page 5:
- Keith wants to have it both ways. He has engaged me in a political debate, but when his politics are challenged he slips behind a smoke-screen of anti-intellectualism.
- 2020, Dagulf Loptson, Pagan Portals - Loki: Trickster and Transformer:
- He was grey and had eight legs, and could travel anywhere and slip into any corner of 9 worlds. For this reason he was called Sleipnir ("the slipper) and was given to Oðinn as his steed.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To move down; to slide.
- Profits have slipped over the past six months.
- 2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 – 2 Fulham”, in BBC Sport:
- The Cottagers had previously gone eight games without a win and had slipped into the relegation zone over Christmas, with boss Hughes criticised by fans after their 3-1 home defeat by fellow basement battlers West Ham on Boxing Day.
- (transitive, hunting, falconry) To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry.
- c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Lucento slipped me like his greyhound.
- 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 78:
- 'Well, it was one morning early in the spring,' said Lars, 'that I started for Linderudsœter, where I slipped Rap, and he was soon in full cry and made the hillside ring.'
- (intransitive, aviation, of an aircraft) Clipping of sideslip (“to fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind”)..
- (transitive, cooking) To remove the skin of a soft fruit, such as a tomato or peach, by blanching briefly in boiling water, then transferring to cold water so that the skin peels, or slips, off easily.
- (obsolete) To omit; to lose by negligence.
- 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- And slip no advantage / That may secure you.
- (transitive) To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of.
- to slip a piece of cloth or paper
- 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
- The branches also may be slipped and planted.
- (transitive) To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place.
- A horse slips his bridle; a dog slips his collar.
- To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
- (transitive, business) To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline.
- 2005, Raj Karamchedu, It's Not About the Technology:
- We have been consistently slipping the product release schedules.
- 2013, Robert Galen, Software Endgames:
- If you are going to slip the schedule, make it a big slip and make it early in your endgame effort so that your stakeholders can respond and adjust around you.
- 2020 July 1, Chris Rayner tells Richard Clinnick, “High Speed 2 is speeding up …”, in Rail, page 65:
- As for trains, the contract was due to be awarded last year, but Rayner confirms that this has slipped and will now be awarded next year.
Translations
to lose one's traction
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to err
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to give up a secret by mistake
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to move out of place
to pass
to move quickly
to quickly and invisibly depart, to escape
Noun
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slip (plural slips)
- An act or instance of slipping.
- I had a slip on the ice and bruised my hip.
- A woman's undergarment worn under a skirt or dress to conceal unwanted nudity that may otherwise be revealed by the skirt or dress itself; a shift.
- A slipdress.
- A mistake or error.
- 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
- This good man's slip mended his pace to martyrdom.
- 1906, James George Frazer, Attis, Otis, Osiris, volume 1, page 295:
- In quoting this passage I have taken the liberty to correct a grammatical slip.
- (nautical) A berth; a space for a ship to moor.
- (nautical, aviation) A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.
- (nautical) A slipway.
- (medicine) A one-time return to previous maladaptive behavior after cure.
- (cricket) Any of several fielding positions to the off side of the wicket keeper, designed to catch the ball after being deflected from the bat; a fielder in that position (See first slip, second slip, third slip, fourth slip and fifth slip.)
- A number between 0 and 1 that is the difference between the angular speed of a rotating magnetic field and the angular speed of its rotor, divided by the angular speed of the magnetic field.
- A leash or string by which a dog is held; so called from its being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand.
- 1852, Samuel Baker, The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon:
- We stalked over the extensive plains with Killbuck and Lena in the slips, in search of deer.
- An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion.
- He gave the warden the slip and escaped from the prison.
- 1669 February 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “February 4th, 1668–1669”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume (please specify |volume=I to X), London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893–1899, →OCLC:
- This morning I made a slip from the Office to White Hall.
- (aviation) Clipping of sideslip.
- (printing, dated) A portion of the columns of a newspaper etc. struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.
- (dated) A child's pinafore.
- An outside covering or case.
- a pillow slip
- the slip or sheath of a sword
- (obsolete) A counterfeit piece of money, made from brass covered with silver.
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- ROMEO: […] Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?
MERCUTIO:The slip, sir, the slip. Can you not conceive?
- Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.
- 1667, William Petty, An apparatus to the history of the common practices of dying:
- the Grindstone, commonly called Slipp, is used to the same purpose in dying of Silks.
- A particular quantity of yarn.
- (UK, dated) A narrow passage between buildings.
- Either side of the gallery in a theater.
- 1826, Edward Wedlake Brayley, Historical and Descriptive Accounts of the Theatres of London, page 65:
- The gallery contains nine rows of seats, besides those in the slips.
- (US) A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.
- (mining) A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.[1]
- (engineering) The motion of the centre of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horizontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed it would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.
- (electrical) The difference between the actual and synchronous speeds of an induction motor.
- (telecommunications) The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.
- A fish, the sole.
- (crosswording) A newsletter produced by the setter of a cryptic clue-writing competition, containing a full list of winners and commentary on the clues.
- 1966, Ximenes, Ximenes On The Art Of The Crossword:
- After about a dozen competitions someone suggested that a slip should be sent round to those who applied for it, containing in full the clues of all prizewinners and of those highly commended (there was only room for the first prizewinner’s clue in the paper).
- 2009 June 23, Dean Olsher, From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
- Manley is also a regular at the top of the Azed slip. As the two men talked, they quoted memorable clues as if they were lines of poetry.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
- (undergarment): full slip, waist slip
Translations
act of slipping
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women’s undergarment
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error
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nautical: space for a ship to moor — see berth
slipway
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a fielding position in cricket
|
nautical: difference between theoretical and actual advance of a vessel
Derived terms
- Albany slip
- antislip, anti-slip
- bank slip
- blue slip
- brick slip
- buck slip
- cover slip
- fly slip
- forward slip
- Freudian slip
- give someone the slip
- green slip
- half slip
- leg slip
- let slip
- let something slip
- limited-slip differential
- line slip
- long-slip
- mag-slip
- mag slip
- mouse slip
- nip-slip
- nip slip
- non-slip
- nonslip
- off-slip
- on-slip
- pay-in slip
- payslip
- permission slip
- psychological slip
- route slip
- routing slip
- side-slip
- sideslip
- slip-and-slide
- slip and slide
- slip away
- slip back
- slip back to old ways
- slip by
- slip case
- slip-case
- slip coach
- slip-cueing
- slip dock
- slip down
- slip dress
- slip face
- slip-halter
- slip in
- slip into
- slip into something more comfortable
- slip it to
- slip knot
- slip lane
- slip noose
- slip off
- slip off someone's tongue
- slip of the pen
- slip of the tongue
- slip-on
- slip one past
- slip one's mind
- slip one's wind
- slip opinion
- slip out
- slippage
- slipped disc
- slippery
- slip rail
- slip ring
- slip road
- slips and capture
- slip sheet
- slip sheet paper
- slipshod
- slip someone a length
- slip someone's mind
- slip steward
- slip stitch
- slip the cable
- slip through
- slip through one's fingers
- slip through someone's fingers
- slip through the cracks
- slip through the net
- slip under
- slip under the radar
- slip-up
- slip up, slip-up
- slype
- snowslip
- stick-slip
- strike-slip fault
- tardy slip
- there's many a slip between the cup and the lip
- there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
- there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip
- trip slip
- two slips of latinum
- voting slip
Etymology 2
Probably from Middle Dutch slippe or Middle Low German slippe, probably ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *slīban (“to split”).
Noun
slip (plural slips)
- A twig or shoot; a cutting.
- a slip from a vine
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 322:
- "So much for auguries," said Emily, pointing to a young geranium, which was growing in vigour below. "The day before I left home, I planted that slip, and, in idea, linked my futurity with the slight shrub, saying, If it flourishes, so shall I—if it dies, I shall die too. See how luxuriantly it blooms!"
- (obsolete) A descendant, a scion.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- a native slip to us from foreign seeds
- A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier).
- She couldn't hurt a fly, young slip of a girl that she is.
- A long, thin piece of something.
- 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “Œnone”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 62:
- Never, nevermore / Shall lone Œnone see the morning mist / Sweep thro' them—never see them overlaid / With narrow moonlit slips of silver cloud, / Between the loud stream and the trembling stars.
- A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information.
- a salary slip
- (marine insurance) A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwriters.
Derived terms
Translations
twig or shoot
small piece of paper
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Etymology 3
From Middle English slyp, slep, slyppe, from Old English slyp, slyppe, slipa (“a viscous, slimy substance”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-West Germanic *sleupan, from Proto-Germanic *sleupaną (“to slip, sneak”), possibly connected with Proto-Indo-European *slewb-, *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak, crawl”); or alternatively from Proto-Germanic *slippijaną (“to glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to glide”).
Compare Old English slūpan (“to slip, glide”), Old English cūslyppe, cūsloppe (“cowslip”).
Noun
slip (countable and uncountable, plural slips)
- (ceramics) A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
- 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 172:
- The Wasserpfeife or water-whistle from Moravia was a bird whistle made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. […] The bird is of a grey and brown mottled glaze with sgraffito markings and touches of green slip.
- (obsolete) Mud, slime.
Translations
References
- Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Slip”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes III (REA–ZYM), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.
- “slip”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “slip”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Anagrams
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