sop

¹ American  

[sop] / sɒp /

noun

1. a piece of solid food, as bread, for dipping in liquid food.

2. anything thoroughly soaked.

3. something given to pacify or quiet, or as a bribe.

   The political boss gave him some cash as a sop.

   Synonyms:

   payoff, gratuity, tip

4. a weak-willed or spineless person; milksop.

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verb (used with object)

sopped, sopping

1. to dip or soak in liquid food.

   to sop bread in gravy.

2. to drench.

3. to take up (liquid) by absorption (usually followed byup ).

   He used bread to sop up the gravy.

verb (used without object)

sopped, sopping

1. to be or become soaking wet.

2. (of a liquid) to soak (usually followed byin ).

SOP ² American  

Or S.O.P.

abbreviation

1. Standard Operating Procedure; Standing Operating Procedure.

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sop. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. soprano.

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sop ¹ British  

/ sɒp /

noun

1. (often plural) food soaked in a liquid before being eaten

2. a concession, bribe, etc, given to placate or mollify

   a sop to one's feelings

3. informal a stupid or weak person

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verb

1. (tr) to dip or soak (food) in liquid

2. to soak or be soaked

SOP ² British  

abbreviation

1. standard operating procedure

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sop. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. soprano

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Etymology

Origin of sop¹

First recorded before 1000; (for the noun) Middle English; Old English sopp; cognate with Old Norse soppa; verb derivative of the noun; see sup ³

Origin of SOP²

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

But there’s something uniquely insidious about how the phone is eager to sop up the bounty of time that retirement has granted me.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

A hedge-fund strategy known as the “basis trade” has helped sop up more Treasury issuance.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 23, 2026

But if there aren’t enough home listings to sop up that demand, then price growth—which has petered out to a rate slower than wage growth—could reignite.

From Barron's • Jan. 10, 2026

“There was also a man whose cell was covered in mold and water and he was using his clothes to sop up the water,” Broder said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2024

The soup is possible to eat if he doesn't stop to smell it, doesn't stop to think about his grandmother's soup, her thick beef-and-barley soup, and the crusty bread to sop up the hearty broth.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti