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.
Shirley Temple gets passing recognition, only via her namesake drink when the Minions visit a nightclub and sip virgin cocktails loaded with cherries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
The Spanish also feel the pull, we take a final sip.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 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
After a long moment, she took a sip of tea, then inclined her head to Mr. Lew and me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
She then scoured council documents and found there had been a significant rise in the number of penalties issued in the first year the SIP car park was open.
From BBC ● May 19, 2025
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
SIP termination is a process by which a phone call is sent from one provider to another.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
“The baseline that was established during the SIP and FIP really did show that there was some work that could be done.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2017
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
Poornima, a salt pan worker, sips black tea during the day -- saying the hot drink induces sweating in the dry weather to cool the body.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
She sips tea throughout the interview in an effort to protect her voice, which is "really delicate" - not from the concerts, but because "I've been talking too much to my friends".
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 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
Less smug but still rather inscrutable, he sips on tea and evades answering Arisu’s question directly, instead turning the tables.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2025
Mother lies on her side, her face next to mine, taking small sips of air each time the van fishtails, then holding her breath as Dad corrects and it snakes back into the lane.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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 the work proceeded, Palacios sipped water and watched nervously.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
I woke up in the morning to a warm California sun and hot coffee, sipped on the balcony.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
As she sipped a coffee, she reflected on those 21-year-old aspirations.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
“And Mami,” I said as I sipped my afternoon café con leche, “Miss Jiménez said the experts will give us free food and toothbrushes and things...and we can get breakfast every day except Sunday...”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
I’m sipping coffee out of my “embarrassing” Starbucks mug as I write this and thinking about the climb up the Arc de Triomphe with my daughter on her first visit last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
And then I just like to sit in silence while it’s still dark out, while sipping two mugs of coffee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 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
Neel threw one last scowl at Headmaster and Gupta, who were sipping tea in the shade of the tamarind tree.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
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.
