sip
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to drink (a liquid) a little at a time; take small tastes of.
He sipped the hot tea noisily.
-
to drink from a little at a time.
The bird sipped the flower.
-
to take in; absorb.
to sip knowledge at its source.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
an instance of sipping; a small taste of a liquid.
One sip told me that the milk was sour.
-
a small quantity taken by sipping.
Take just a sip, not a gulp or a swallow.
verb
noun
-
a small quantity of a liquid taken into the mouth and swallowed
-
an act of sipping
Related Words
See drink.
Other Word Forms
- sipper noun
- sippingly adverb
- unsipped adjective
Etymology
Origin of sip
1350–1400; Middle English sippen (v.), akin to Low German sippen to sip
Explanation
When you drink a small amount of something, you sip it. If your cocoa is extremely hot, you should probably sip it until it cools off a little bit. You may sit in a corner and sip your punch at a dull party, but when your long hike leaves you parched, it's hard to sip from your water bottle instead of guzzling. As a noun sip means "small drink," like a sip of Coke or a sip of soup. The origin of sip isn't clear, though we know it's related to the Old English supan, "take into the mouth a little at a time."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
Some book clubs sip stoic glasses of water, like they’re in a graduate school seminar, waiting for me to begin.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Odor compounds are released as we chew or sip, traveling from the mouth to the nose though the nasal pharynx at the back of throat.
From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2026
Girl Scouts sing carols as onlookers sip cocoa at the annual lighting ceremony.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
She took a sip of her orange juice, and if it hadn’t already been far, far too late, he would have stomped on Daniel’s foot under the table.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
