slip
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slip¹
- /ˈslɪp/
- [ˈslɪp]
Rhymes with -ɪp
Where it comes from
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.
verb slips · slipping · slipped · slipt
- To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction. [...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, […]
- To err. There is one that slippeth in his speach, but not from his heart, and who is he that hath not offended with his tongue?
- To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentionally. She kept engaging with the caller, though, hoping he would slip and reveal her daughter’s location.
- To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc. A bone may slip out of place.
- To elude or evade by smooth movement. I caught the thief, but he slipped my grasp and ran away.
- To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly. She thanked the porter and slipped a ten-dollar bill into his hand.
- To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly. Tvvo other VVitneſſes gave the follovving Evidence; That in his officious Attendance upon his Miſtreſs, he had try'd to ſlip a Povvder into her Drink, and that he vvas once catch'd endeavouring to ſtifle her vvith a Pillovv as ſhe vvas aſleep; […]
-
To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.
Some errors slipped into the appendix.
Similar: slink
- To move down; to slide. Profits have slipped over the past six months.
- To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry. Lucento slipped me like his greyhound.
- Clipping of sideslip (“to fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind”).
- 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.
- To omit; to lose by negligence. And slip no advantage / That may secure you.
- To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of. to slip a piece of cloth or paper
- To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place. A horse slips his bridle; a dog slips his collar.
- To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
- To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline. We have been consistently slipping the product release schedules.
noun slips
- An act or instance of slipping. I had a slip on the ice and bruised my hip.
- 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.
- A slipdress.
-
A mistake or error.
a slip of the tongue
Similar: blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, stumble
- A berth; a space for a ship to moor.
- A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.
- A slipway.
-
A one-time return to previous maladaptive behavior after cure.
Similar: lapse
- 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.) He took a screamer at slip.
- 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.
- 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. We stalked over the extensive plains with Killbuck and Lena in the slips, in search of deer.
- An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion. He gave the warden the slip and escaped from the prison.
- Clipping of sideslip
- 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.
- A child's pinafore.
- An outside covering or case. a pillow slip
- A counterfeit piece of money, made from brass covered with silver. ROMEO:[…]Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you? MERCUTIO:The slip, sir, the slip. Can you not conceive?
- Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools. the Grindstone, commonly called Slipp, is used to the same purpose in dying of Silks.
- A particular quantity of yarn.
- A narrow passage between buildings.
- Either side of the gallery in a theater. The gallery contains nine rows of seats, besides those in the slips.
- A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.
- A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.
- 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.
- The difference between the actual and synchronous speeds of an induction motor.
- The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.
- A fish, the sole.
- A newsletter produced by the setter of a cryptic clue-writing competition, containing a full list of winners and commentary on the clues. After about a dozen competitions someone suggested that a slip should be sent round to those who applied for it, containing in full the clues of all prizewinners and of those highly commended (there was only room for the first prizewinner’s clue in the paper).
- An incompletely caponized cockerel. An expert will caponize several hundred in a day. The loss does not reach one per cent when properly done by an expert, and the slips do not exceed five per cent
slip²
- /ˈslɪp/
- [ˈslɪp]
Rhymes with -ɪp
Where it comes from
Probably from Middle Dutch slippe or Middle Low German slippe, probably ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *slīban (“to split”).
noun slips
- A twig or shoot; a cutting. a slip from a vine
- A descendant, a scion. a native slip to us from foreign seeds
- A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier). She couldn't hurt a fly, young slip of a girl that she is.
- A long, thin piece of something. Never, nevermore / Shall lone Œnone see the morning mist / Sweep thro' them—never see them overlaid / With narrow moonlit slips of silver cloud, / Between the loud stream and the trembling stars.
- A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information. a salary slip
- 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.
slip³
- /ˈslɪp/
- [ˈslɪp]
Rhymes with -ɪp
Where it comes from
From Middle English slyp, slep, slyppe, from Old English slyp, slyppe, slipa (“a viscous, slimy substance”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-West Germanic *sleupan, from Proto-Germanic *sleupaną (“to slip, sneak”), possibly connected with Proto-Indo-European *slewb-, *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak, crawl”); or alternatively from Proto-Germanic *slippijaną (“to glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to glide”).
Compare Old English slūpan (“to slip, glide”), Old English cūslyppe, cūsloppe (“cowslip”).
noun slips
- A thin, slippery mix of clay and water. The Wasserpfeife or water-whistle from Moravia was a bird whistle made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. […] The bird is of a grey and brown mottled glaze with sgraffito markings and touches of green slip.
- Mud, slime.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: strip, pillowcase, cutting, slick, slipup, mooring, moorage, shift, berth, skid, chemise, teddy, slickness, slipperiness, slue, sideslip
Translations
Every language
verb to move out of place
| Deutsch | herausrutschen |
|---|
verb to worsen
| Français | empirer |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | den Bach runtergehen, bergab gehen, abrutschen |
| Italiano | calare, peggiorare, crollare |
| Română | o lua la vale |
verb to lose one's traction
| Español | resbalar, resfalar, refalar, esbarar, esvarar, esguilarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 미끄러지다 mikkeureojida |
| 日本語 | 滑る suberu |
| 中文 | 滑 huá |
| हिन्दी | फिसलना phisalnā |
| Português | escorregar, derrapar, deslizar |
| Français | glisser |
| Deutsch | ausrutschen, ausgleiten |
| Italiano | scivolare, sdrucciolare, slittare, sgusciare |
| Ελληνικά | γλιστρώ glistró |
| Română | aluneca |
| Русский | поска́льзываться poskálʹzyvatʹsja, поскользну́ться poskolʹznútʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | trượt |
| العربية | اِنْزَلَقَ inzalaqa |
| עברית | גָּלַשׁ galásh |
verb to err
| Français | se tromper, faire erreur |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | sich im Ton vergreifen |
| Italiano | errare, sbagliare |
| Ελληνικά | κάνω σφάλμα káno sfálma |
| Русский | ошиба́ться ošibátʹsja, ошиби́ться ošibítʹsja |
verb to pass
| Français | faire passer |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | zustecken, zuschieben |
| Italiano | scivolare, far passare |
| Română | strecura |
verb to move quickly
| Deutsch | schlüpfen |
|---|---|
| Italiano | sgusciare, sfuggire, scivolare |
| Română | se strecura |
verb to quickly and invisibly depart, to escape
| Deutsch | entschlüpfen, entfleuchen, entweichen |
|---|
verb to give up a secret by mistake
| Deutsch | herausrutschen, entschlüpfen |
|---|---|
| Română | se scăpa |
noun act of slipping
| Español | resbalón |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 滑 huá |
| Français | glissade |
| Deutsch | Ausrutschen, Ausrutscher |
| Ελληνικά | ολίσθηση olísthisi, γλίστρημα glístrima |
| Română | alunecare |
| Русский | скольже́ние skolʹžénije |
noun women’s undergarment
| Español | combinación, subveste |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Unterkleid, Unterrock |
| Italiano | sottoveste |
| Ελληνικά | μεσοφόρι mesofóri |
| Русский | комбина́ция kombinácija, комбина́шка kombináška |
noun error
| Español | patinazo, error, equivocación, desliz, descuido |
|---|---|
| Português | escorrega |
| Deutsch | Ausrutscher, Patzer, chnitzer, Fehler |
| Italiano | sbaglio, errore, svista, strafalcione |
| Русский | оши́бка ošíbka, обмо́лвка obmólvka |
noun nautical: difference between theoretical and actual advance of a vessel
| Deutsch | Schlupf |
|---|
noun medicine: return to previous behaviour
| Deutsch | Rückfall |
|---|
noun small piece of paper
| Español | papeleta, papelito, trozo de papel, pedazo de papel, tira de papel |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 回條 /回条 huítiáo, 單據 /单据 dānjù, 紙條 /纸条 zhǐtiáo |
| हिन्दी | चिट्ठी ciṭṭhī |
| Français | fiche |
| Deutsch | Bon, Kassenbon, Papierstreifen, Kassenzettel |
| Română | fițuică, țidulă, hârtiuță |
| Русский | листо́к listók, квито́к kvitók |
| עברית | פִּתְקָה pitká |
noun ceramics: thin, slippery mix of clay and water
| Français | barbotine |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Schlicker, Engobe, Angussmasse, Tonbrei |
| Italiano | barbottina |
| Română | barbotină |
Talk about this word "slip." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/slip. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. slip. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/slip "slip." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/slip.
Cite this
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BibTeX
@misc{slip_2026,
title = {slip},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/slip},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
