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.
All the while, SpaceX apparently let slip its obligations to NASA’s moon effort.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
Gabon, whose exit from the tournament was confirmed before the Ivory Coast game, let slip a two-goal lead in Marrakech.
From BBC • Jan. 1, 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
But even he let slip that he "didn't really imagine this" as a scenario at the end of day two.
From BBC • Sep. 27, 2025
A silent procession of stable hands came out and solemnly gazed at the horse they had let slip away.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
