let slip
Idioms-
Also, ; let slide . Miss an opportunity; waste time. For example, We forgot to buy a ticket and let our big chance slip by , or He let the whole day slide by . The first term dates from the mid-1500s, the variant from the late 1500s.
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Also, let slip out . Reveal something, usually inadvertently, as in He let it slip out that he had applied for the vacant position . [Mid-1800s]
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let slip through one's fingers . Fail to seize an opportunity, as in We could have won the trophy but we let it slip through our fingers . [First half of 1600s]
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.
When one Artemis II crew member let slip in a press conference that he was bringing an iPhone to get mesmerizing photos of Earth, he caught himself.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
She did let slip the relationship when she shouted "stop, Mum!" while the group was frantically paddling a canoe in the first mission - but no-one picked up on it.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026
Knowing that handing off the mantle to any of these soft-bellied siblings meant dooming his life’s work, Roy let slip one of the most devastating parental assessments ever captured on television.
From Salon • Dec. 9, 2025
That same weekend, Russell let slip something of the level of discomfort the saga had produced in him.
From BBC • Oct. 15, 2025
I walked away, thinking furiously about Manet’s advice and what he had let slip in our conversation.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
