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.
As Sylvie tries to sip water she has a seizure in the ambulance.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
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
She also joined Madix in a meta ad for Sonic in which the two sip the fast-food chain’s new “Refreshers” and wink at their shared experiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Even Scott Jennings, the foul-mouthed Kentuckian with a habit of picking Derby losers and rumored to occasionally sip Tennessee whiskey instead of Kentucky bourbon, has been caught trashing the president — off camera.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
The straw almost goes up my nose, and as I sip, I start to cough and sputter.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
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
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
The Arizona defendants are TollFreeDeals.com, SIP retail and their owner-operators, Nicholas and Natasha Palumbo.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 28, 2020
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
“It’s going to be pretty spectacular,” she said, between sips of green tea as families and friends strolled the Huntington’s Chinese Garden behind her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
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
When Laura Seymour sips coffee on her porch in rural Vermont this time of year, she’s treated to rolling hills of red, orange and yellow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
The girls had been passing the second canteen around, taking small, careful sips from it.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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
In front of the cafe, 36-year-old army veteran Dmytro sipped an espresso, despite the ashes swirling around him.
From Barron's ● May 25, 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
Standing at the counter next to a crew of workmen, I sipped a latte and munched on a pastry as the smell of espresso and the sound of Italian greetings swirled around me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
She sipped from her cup of lavender tea.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
“The taste is the inheritance,” said Kaweenuntawong, who remembers sipping spoonfuls as a toddler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 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
The reason quickly becomes clear, as Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman arrives for a hora feliz con Nithya, sipping a Tajin-rimmed drink and making the rounds to pitch her campaign for mayor.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
Under the cover of her job, Olka was able to come and go easily, and we spent many a night sipping fiery homemade slivovitz, listening to a violinist play Mahler, sometimes even dancing.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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.
