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• sup
  sup

  interjection

  wassup.
• sup-
  sup-

  variant of sub- before p:
• sup.
  sup.

  abbreviation

  superior.

sup

¹ American  

[suhp] / sʌp /

Or 'sup

interjection

Slang.

1. wassup.

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sup ² American  

[suhp] / sʌp /

verb (used without object)

supped, supping

1. to eat the evening meal; have supper.

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verb (used with object)

supped, supping

1. to provide with or entertain at supper.

sup ³ American  

[suhp] / sʌp /

verb (used with object)

supped, supping

1. to take (liquid food, or any liquid) into the mouth in small quantities, as from a spoon or cup; sip.

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verb (used without object)

supped, supping

1. to take liquid into the mouth in small quantities, as by spoonfuls or sips.

noun

1. a mouthful or small portion of drink or liquid food; sip.

sup ⁴ American  

[soop] / sup /

noun

Mathematics.

1. supremum. See least upper bound.

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sup- ⁵ American  

1. variant of sub- before p:

   suppose.

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sup. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. superior.

2. superlative.

3. supine.

4. supplement.

5. supplementary.

6. supply.

7. supra.

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sup ¹ British  

/ sʌp /

verb

1. to partake of (liquid) by swallowing a little at a time

2. dialect to drink

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noun

1. a sip

sup. ² British  

abbreviation

1. above

2. superior

3. grammar superlative

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sup ³ British  

/ sʌp /

verb

1. archaic (intr) to have supper

2. obsolete (tr) to provide with supper

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Etymology

Origin of sup¹

First recorded in 1985–90; by shortening

Origin of sup²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English s(o)upen, soupe, from Old French souper “to take supper,” from Germanic; compare Old English sūpan “to swallow, taste, sip”; see sup ³

Origin of sup³

First recorded before 900; Middle English s(o)uppen, soup(p)e, Old English sūpan; cognate with German saufen “to drink”; cf. sip, sop, soup, sup ²

Origin of sup⁴

First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening

Explanation

To sup is to eat slowly, by spoonfuls. When you eat soup, you probably sup it. You can really only sup soft foods and liquids, like oatmeal and milkshakes and miso soup. A sick person taking gingerly spoons of Jello into his mouth can be said to sup, and so can a hesitant baby eating tiny bites of pureed carrots. Sup essentially means "sip," and its root is the Old English sūpan, "to sip or swallow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sup sup- sup. supped supping

Jimmy Adams, who oversees the pub, says the idea behind the venue was to create a place where people could meet regardless of whether they wanted to sup upon alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2024

Now, there is only three years to go until the pub rises again and thirsty regulars can sup a beer — or two.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

You will sip as well as you sup.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2021

How can I best sup port my girlfriend?

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2021

Chris replies to my prom text: Okay, if you say so Btw Vante says sup.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

“And what college is sup- posed to do is to allow you to live more fully in your time.”

From MSNBC ● Mar. 21, 2015

In Barn Dance, farm wives of 1850 prepare a picnic sup- per, children play and bicker, bashful hayseeds choose partners.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was not till the third day that I re- turned to Tours; and the distance, traversed for the most part after dark, was even greater than I had sup- posed.

From A Little Tour in France by James, Henry

She only got handy the Union-house on Sunday morning 'a b'lieve, and 'tis sup- posed here and there that she had traipsed every step of the way from Melchester.

From Far from the Madding Crowd by Hardy, Thomas

Beside the cathedral, on the north, is a curious structure of the fourteenth or fifteenth century, which looks like an enormous flying buttress, with its sup- port, sustaining the north tower.

From A Little Tour in France by James, Henry

Manso, ubi sup., has taken the same view of the passage.470.Cic. de Leg. and de Rep. ubi sup.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 2 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried

What Aristotle ubi sup. relates, refers merely to the silly and unnecessary display of a Megarian choregus for comedy, in the embellishment of the theatre.1632.Aristot.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 2 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried

I, § 2.102.There was a hero named Azorus, Hesychius in Ἄζωρος.103.Hemsterhuis incorrectly considers them as identical, ubi sup. p. 116.104.Athen.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried

Occasionally however he endeavoured, following Huxley and others, to defend himself against the reproach of relying upon such a factor.—Vid. sup., c. xii.

From The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer by Gerard, John S.J.

For the Wertherism, v. sup. on Chateaubriand, p.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century by Saintsbury, George

Mr McCann added that he and his wife had "supped with the Devil" by working with the Sun in 2011, in order to have the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance reviewed - illustrating the newspaper's influence.

From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025

To the north at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, the campus’ Hillel organization recently welcomed several Ukrainian students to a Shabbat dinner, where they supped on matzo ball soup and deli sandwiches.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2022

I have drunk the legendary Vietnamese coffee and supped the sulphurous vegetable broth on the collapsing sofas.

From The Verge ● Mar. 31, 2018

Instead of grabbing a tuna sandwich from the cooler, beachgoers supped in the bathhouses’ dining rooms, with their white tablecloths and glassware, and donned their suits in changing rooms.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2014

Ordinarily, they would all have supped in the dining room, but, for an event of this importance, that place was simply too small.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

Retro china finds some of us supping off the portraits of Jack and Jackie and Dick and Pat.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2018

This was the modern-day equivalent of supping from Mr Bannon’s gilded skull.

From Economist ● Jan. 11, 2018

“What I didn’t realize is that supping with them would actually have a broader impact on how the world sees me as a scientist,” he said.

From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2016

But the women were rewarded with the sight of two bright orange sulfur butterflies and a cluster of Western tiger swallowtail supping on teasel flowers.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2016

Taryn and I hear things, even if no one means for us to—stories of humans sleeping on stone floors and eating refuse, believing themselves to be resting on feather beds and supping on delicacies.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black