slip

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
2. (intransitive) To err.
3. (intransitive) To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentionally.
4. (intransitive) To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc.
5. (transitive) To elude or evade by smooth movement.
6. (transitive) To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.
7. (transitive) To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.
8. (intransitive) To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.
9. (figuratively, intransitive) To move down; to slide.
10. (transitive) To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry.
11. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, intransitive) Clipping of sideslip (“to fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind”).
12. (transitive) 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.
13. (obsolete) To omit; to lose by negligence.
14. (transitive) To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of.
15. (transitive) To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place.
16. To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
17. (transitive) To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline.

Noun

1. An act or instance of slipping.
2. 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.
3. A slipdress.
4. A mistake or error.
5. A berth; a space for a ship to moor.
6. A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.
7. A slipway.
8. A one-time return to previous maladaptive behavior after cure.
9. 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.)
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion.
13. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping) Clipping of sideslip.
14. (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.
15. (dated) A child's pinafore.
16. An outside covering or case.
17. (obsolete) A counterfeit piece of money, made from brass covered with silver.
18. Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.
19. A particular quantity of yarn.
20. (UK, dated) A narrow passage between buildings.
21. Either side of the gallery in a theater.
22. (US) A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.
23. A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.
24. 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.
25. The difference between the actual and synchronous speeds of an induction motor.
26. The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.
27. A fish, the sole.
28. A newsletter produced by the setter of a cryptic clue-writing competition, containing a full list of winners and commentary on the clues.

Noun

1. A twig or shoot; a cutting.
2. (obsolete) A descendant, a scion.
3. A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier).
4. A long, thin piece of something.
5. A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information.
6. 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.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Mud, slime.

Synonyms

slide

glide

skid

stumble

mistake

error

fall

blunder

trip

strip

fault

be slippery

cutting

lapse

petticoat

slither

failure

underskirt

tumble

sneak

shift

case

chemise

tag

steal

err

slip-up

sideslip

skirt

fall down

lose one’s footing

pillowcase

scion

teddy

creep

miss

slippery

hide

goof

slipperiness

gaucherie

slice

label

🏷️

gaffe

slick

dislocate

pillow slip

evade

receipt

🧾

dart

🎯

Translations

glisser

scivolare

resbalar

gleiten

rutschen

ausrutschen

deslizarse

errore

escorregar

Fehler

uitglijden

γλιστρώ

fiche

deslizar

slippen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/slɪp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: slippen

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: slipje

Cognate with Dutch: slippen

Cognate with German: schlüpfen

Inherited from Middle English: slyp

Inherited from Old English: slyp

Cognate with Old English: slūpan

Cognate with Old English: cūslyppe

In summary

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.