sip

From Middle English sippen, of uncertain origin. Compare with Low German sippen (“to sip”). Possibly from a variant of Middle English suppen (“to drink, sip”) (see sup) or perhaps from Old English sipian, sypian (“to take in moisture, soak, macerate”), from Proto-Germanic *sipōną (“to drip, trickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb- (“to pour out, trickle, leak out”). Compare also Old High German supfen (“to drink, sip”), from Proto-Germanic *sūpaną (“to sip, intake”).

• enPR: sĭp, IPA^(key): /sɪp/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪp

sip (plural sips)

1. A small mouthful of drink
2. An event at which people drink alcohol in small, usually sub-intoxicating amounts.
   • 1985 April 20, Joseph Beam, “Black Men Loving Black Men: The Revolutionary Act of the Eighties”, in Gay Community News, page 5:

     Earl is always a good time. His appearance at parties, whether it's a smart cocktail sip or a basement gig, is mandatory.

sip (third-person singular simple present sips, present participle sipping, simple past and past participle sipped)

1. (transitive) To drink slowly, small mouthfuls at a time.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 5, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:

     He held out to me a bowl of steaming broth, that filled the room with a savour sweeter, ten thousand times, to me than every rose and lily of the world; yet would not let me drink it at a gulp, but made me sip it with a spoon like any baby.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed.

   • 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

     bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.

2. (intransitive) To drink a small quantity.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     [She] rais'd it to her mouth with sober grace; / Then, sipping, offered to the next in place.

3. To taste the liquor of; to drink out of.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     They skim the floods, and sip the purple flowers.

4. (Scotland, US, dated) Alternative form of seep
5. (figurative) To consume slowly.
   • 1995, Richard North, Life on a Modern Planet: A Manifesto for Progress‎, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 80:

     Sales of lightbulbs which sip electricity, and whose increased cost in the shops is easily paid for over their lifetime, used to double every year; in 1990/1991, they leapt sevenfold.

   • 2008 July 3, “The presidential election: White men can vote”, in The Economist‎:

     It makes a small car, the Chevy Cobalt, which sips petrol in moderation and is therefore selling well.

   • 2014 October 20, Erik Hyrkas, "Energy Vampires are Attacking Your Home – Here’s How to Stop Them" (Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy)

     Even when turned off, these devices can idly sip electricity from your outlet costing you money.

• nurse
• See also Thesaurus:drink

• seep
• siphon

• IPS, IPs, ISP, Isp, PIs, PSI, SPI, iPS, isp, pis, psi

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈsip]

sip

1. (informal) yep

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Audio

  (file)

sip (comparative sipper, superlative sipst)

1. sad, subdued

   Synonyms: droevig, treurig

From English safe, from Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, every”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɪp]
• Hyphenation: sip

sip

1. (colloquial) safe.
   1. not in danger; out of harm's reach.

      Synonym: aman

   2. free from risk.

      Synonym: terjamin

   3. reliable.

      Synonyms: mantap, elok, baik, sempurna

• “sip” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• sip-dhúntóir

From English zip.

sip f (genitive singular sipe, nominative plural sipeanna)

1. zip, zipper, zip fastener

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “sip”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Entries containing “sip” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.

Possibly a calque of English yep.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsip/ [ˈsip]
• Rhymes: -ip
• Syllabification: sip

sip

1. (informal, neologism) yep, yeah, uh-huh

• nop

From English ship.

sip

1. ship