lip

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lip^¹

/lɪp/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɪp

Where it comes from

From Middle English lippe, from Old English lippa, lippe (“lip”), from Proto-West Germanic *lippjō (“lip”), from Proto-Germanic *lepô, from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely, droop, sag”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lippe (“lip”), West Frisian lippe (“lip”), Dutch lip (“lip”), German Lippe and Lefze (“lip”), Low German Lippe (“lip”), Luxembourgish Lëps (“lip”), Vilamovian łyp (“lip”), Yiddish ליפּ (lip, “lip”), Danish læbe (“lip”), Norwegian Bokmål leppe (“lip”), Norwegian Nynorsk leppa, leppe, lippa, lippe (“lip”), Swedish läpp (“lip”),

Latin labium (“lip”).

noun lips

countable Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth. […]thine owne lippes teſtifie againſt thee.
Similar: labium
countable A part of the body that resembles a lip, such as the edge of a wound or the labia. […]I twiſted my thighs, ſqueezed, and compreſs’d the lips of that virgin-ſlit[…]
Similar: labium
broadly, countable The projecting rim of an open container or a bell, etc.; a short open spout. The cork sails over the garden wall and lands somewhere no one can see it. A crest of white spills over the lip of the bottle and Niall pours the wine into Elaine's glass.
Similar: edge, rim, spout
slang, uncountable Backtalk; verbal impertinence. Don’t give me any lip!
Similar: backchat, cheek, impudence, rudeness, insolence
countable, uncountable The edge of a high spot of land. We landed at the head of Garden Island, which is situated near the middle of the river and on the lip of the Falls. On reaching that lip, and peering over the giddy height, the wondrous and unique character of the magnificent cascade at once burst upon us.
countable, uncountable The sharp cutting edge on the end of an auger.
countable, uncountable One of the two opposite divisions of a labiate corolla.
countable, uncountable A distinctive lower-appearing of the three true petals of an orchid.
countable, uncountable One of the edges of the aperture of a univalve shell.
colloquial, countable, uncountable Embouchure: the condition or strength of a wind instrumentalist's lips.
abbreviation, clipping, colloquial, countable, uncountable Clipping of lipstick I put on some red lip and a casual print dress.

verb lips · lipping · lipped · lipt

transitive To touch or grasp with the lips; to kiss; to lap the lips against (something). […] a hand that Kings / Haue lipt, and trembled kiſſing.
figuratively, transitive, of an object To touch lightly. He moved the boat onward very slowly, lipping the glossy surface delicately with the light oars.
intransitive, transitive To wash against a surface, lap. It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the sides of the steamer.
intransitive To rise or flow up to or over the edge of something. Below, the swollen Eden, lipping full from bank to bank, rolled yellow and surly to the sea.
transitive To form the rim, edge or margin of something. […] old Macrae, of Adrfeulan Farm near by, had caused rude steps to be cut in the funnel-like hollow rising sheer up from the sloping ledge that lipped the chasm and reached the summit of the scaur.
transitive To utter verbally. Salt tears were coming, when I heard my name / Most fondly lipp’d […]
transitive To simulate speech by moving the lips without making any sound; to mouth. “Ah, I thought my memory didn’t deceive me!” he lipped silently.
To make a golf ball hit the lip of the cup, without dropping in. “I shall find the ball to the left of a patch of sword grass near the hole,” he said. “My second will lip the hole, I know it as well as if I could see the whole thing.”
transitive To change the sound of (a musical note played on a wind instrument) by moving or tensing the lips.

LIP^²

noun LIPs

abbreviation Abbreviation of large igneous province
abbreviation Abbreviation of litigant in person

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mouth, rim, brim, sass, backtalk, sassing, labial, chin, labium, labia, pil, thread, flange, board, smacking, ledge

Translations

Every language

noun fleshy protrusion framing the mouth

Español	labio, labro, bezo, bembo, bembe, buz
한국어	입술 ipsul
日本語	唇 kuchibiru
中文	嘴脣 /嘴唇 zuǐchún
हिन्दी	होंठ hõṭh, लब lab, ओष्ठ oṣṭh
Português	lábio, beiço
Français	lèvre
Deutsch	Lippe, Lefze, Schnauze
Italiano	labbro
Ελληνικά	χείλος cheílos, χείλι cheíli
Română	buză, buze
Русский	губа́ gubá, уста́ ustá
Tiếng Việt	môi
العربية	شَفَة šafa
עברית	שָׂפָה safá

noun part of body resembling a lip

Español	labio, bezo
中文	唇 chún
Français	lèvre
Ελληνικά	χείλος cheílos
Русский	губа́ gubá

noun rim of an open container

Español	pico
Deutsch	Auslauf, Überlauf, Schnaupe, Ansatz, Randabschluss, Tülle
Italiano	beccuccio
Ελληνικά	χείλος cheílos
Русский	край kraj

noun slang: backtalk, verbal impertinence

Deutsch	Unverschämtheit, Frechheit, Widerrede
Русский	на́глость náglostʹ, наха́льство naxálʹstvo

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MLA

"lip." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lip. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lip. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lip

Chicago

"lip." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lip.

BibTeX

@misc{lip_2026,
  title = {lip},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lip},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

lip