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.
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.
a small quantity of a liquid taken into the mouth and swallowed
an act of sipping
See drink.
1350–1400; Middle English sippen (v.), akin to Low German sippen to sip
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I didn't drink fluids for two weeks when I was in ICU, and I just remember having that sip of fresh clean water was the best thing I ever tasted in my life."
From BBC • May 7, 2026
But if you can’t get a grab bag, you can perhaps sip on an award-winning wine.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
Coffee and fruit is a popular pairing among Vietnam’s younger drinkers, including those inside Blackbird’s Old Quarter location, where teens and 20-somethings sip espresso drinks spiked with banana, mango, pomegranate, kumquat, sugar cane and more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
A street away, at "Chacho's" cafe, customers in sunglasses sip lattes and matcha tea.
From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026
I grab the cold bottle and take a sip, letting the fizz burn on my tongue.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
