sip
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to drink (a liquid) a little at a time; take small tastes of.
He sipped the hot tea noisily.
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to drink from a little at a time.
The bird sipped the flower.
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to take in; absorb.
to sip knowledge at its source.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
an instance of sipping; a small taste of a liquid.
One sip told me that the milk was sour.
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a small quantity taken by sipping.
Take just a sip, not a gulp or a swallow.
verb
noun
-
a small quantity of a liquid taken into the mouth and swallowed
-
an act of sipping
Related Words
See drink.
Other Word Forms
- sipper noun
- sippingly adverb
- unsipped adjective
Etymology
Origin of sip
1350–1400; Middle English sippen (v.), akin to Low German sippen to sip
Explanation
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."
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.
But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
Some book clubs sip stoic glasses of water, like they’re in a graduate school seminar, waiting for me to begin.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Odor compounds are released as we chew or sip, traveling from the mouth to the nose though the nasal pharynx at the back of throat.
From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2026
Girl Scouts sing carols as onlookers sip cocoa at the annual lighting ceremony.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
I sip at my Perrier, try to force a calm in me.
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.
