let slip

1. 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.

2. 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]

3. 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

Some let slip their secrets during the actual cook-off, when host Sarah Rankin interviews them as they stir away.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That same weekend, Russell let slip something of the level of discomfort the saga had produced in him.

Read more on BBC

City twice let slip a lead on Wednesday night in the Champions League, being pegged back to a 2-2 draw in Monaco, with the second equaliser arriving in the 90th minute courtesy of England defender Eric Dier's cool penalty.

Read more on BBC

But even he let slip that he "didn't really imagine this" as a scenario at the end of day two.

Read more on BBC

Each county looks as it does in part because the vast Spanish land grants gave Orange County something L.A. had let slip away: immense tracts to build on.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• advise 
• announce 
• confess 
• declare 
• disclose 
• explain 
• express 
• inform 
• instruct 
• mention 
• notify 
• order 
• report 
• reveal 
• say 
• speak 
• state 
• summon