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.
She also wants to add a water feature where birds and butterflies can bathe and sip, and she plans to plant more berries to attract more pollinators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
But the right amount makes people pause after the first sip and go, “Wait…why is this good?”
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
"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
“Around here, October is the best month for powwows,” Ethan continued, taking a sip of his pop.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The ratings provided for each SIP intervention were applied subjectively based on discussions with experts, literature research, and modelling.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2023
The crackdown was confirmed by friends and family of some of the targets, including the SIP Café Club from Mandalay.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2022
Whenever a corporate phone network makes a call, a VoIP provider hands over the call from the internet to the phone networks - a technology called "SIP trunking".
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2021
If the orders were implemented when excess deaths were on the rise, “then the results from the event study would be biased towards finding that SIP policies lead to excess deaths,” the researchers wrote.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 3, 2021
SIP sop stir-up Toorak small beer do si la sol fa me re do Nip nap wash down chops nacks oh! dear.
From The Eureka Stockade by Carboni, Raffaello
"You take big sips and get them down you," Keilly says.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
For over a month, they survived on "tiny sips of water" and "a little lentils".
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
On the day after Christmas, Caldeira drives past Santas and reindeer that have already begun to deflate as he listens to audio books and sips his berry energy drink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
The finished drink is then served over ice and topped with a pickle spear, which can be eaten in between sips of lemonade.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2025
I take small sips, wondering why she wants to see me.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Over the past several months, I’ve cooked, grilled, smoked, sipped and served my way through a wide range of products perfect for summer gatherings.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
As she sipped a coffee, she reflected on those 21-year-old aspirations.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
After the show, we grabbed a few minutes with the 71-year-old rock star, who wore a beaded vest and tight silver-and-black trousers and sipped from a red plastic cup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026
At a holiday gathering in San Francisco, partygoers sipped Celsius and kept sneaking glances at their cracked-open laptops with a mix of pride and fear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
It was disgusting, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I sipped what I could.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
But standing near the border, sipping coffee from a global chain while looking at the North's nondescript low-rise buildings, was "on a different scale completely", he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Few things say “British summer” like sipping a glass of Pimm’s and watching some of the world’s best athletes compete at grass-court tennis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Up top are mellow selections made for sipping soda or soju.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
The best times to encounter them are at dawn or dusk, when most tourists are sleeping or sipping caipirinhas.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
She was not supposed to be sipping honey tea with people who are just like the parents you think you are supposed to have.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
