I. ˈslip verb
( slipped or archaic slipt ˈslipt ; slipped or archaic slipt ; slipping ; slips )
Etymology: Middle English slippen, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; akin to Old High German slipfen, slīfan to glide, slip, Old Norse sleipr slippery, Greek olibros slippery, leios smooth — more at lime
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to move with a sliding motion
he opened the door and she slipped under the wheel — Hamilton Basso
the red rim of the sun slips out of the sea — Richard Thruelsen
: go or pass smoothly and easily
let his mind slip automatically into the trading routine — Walter O'Meara
b. : to move quietly and cautiously : go stealthily so as to escape notice : glide , steal
peeped out, saw no one, and thinking himself secure, slipped out into the road — David Garnett
slipped from a doorway and followed him — T.M.Johnson
c. : to elapse quickly and smoothly : pass imperceptibly
could see millions of years slipping by and the earth spinning still more dizzily — Waldemar Kaempffert
2.
a.
(1) : to escape from one's mind or consciousness
lately, things seem to slip away from me — Lenard Kaufman
(2) : to become uttered through inadvertence or negligence
her name slipped from his lips — Agnes S. Turnbull
b. : to pass quickly or easily away : become lost : escape
the power of the upper classes to act as sole arbiters of taste and fashion was slipping from them — Jacquetta & Christopher Hawkes
the money slipped through his fingers
3. : to fall into error or fault : lapse
he is most orthodox and rarely slips — G.C.Sellery
sometimes slips into rather dreadful puns and hackneyed language — C.K.Kluckhohn
4.
a.
(1) : to slide out of place or away from a support or one's grasp : fall or change direction by sliding
the books slipped to the floor
the chisel slipped and cut his hand
(2) : to undergo a slip
the younger rock slips from time to time, as some earth movement takes place — American Guide Series: Washington
(3) of a crystal : to undergo internal sliding along a particular plane
b. : to slide on or down a slippery surface so as to fall or endanger one's balance
had hurt his elbow through dropping his stick and slipping downstairs — Arnold Bennett
c. : to flow smoothly
a gentle stream slipping down the face of the cliff — John Muir †1914
5. : to get speedily or easily into or out of an article of clothing or wear
began slipping into a pair of hip boots — Buick Magazine
slipped into his coat
6. : to let go of an anchor by letting the cable run overboard
the captain gave the order to slip
7.
a. : to suffer a gradual loss of one's health or capacities : deteriorate
has slipped badly since his last illness
b. : to suffer a falling off in one's power, standing, or reputation
more scared when he was successful than when he began to slip — Delmore Schwartz
c. : to fall off from a standard or accustomed level by degrees : decline
as costs and prices rise, sales in some lines will slip — Time
8.
a. : to move the head or body quickly to either side to avoid being hit (as by an opponent's fist)
b. : sideslip
transitive verb
1. : to cause to move easily and smoothly : slide
slipped a little mirror from her handbag — Willa Cather
slips an airplane through openings in drifting clouds — William Beebe
2.
a. : to get away from : elude , evade
slipped his pursuers
b. : to free oneself from : get out of
his horse, having slipped the bridle — American Guide Series: Connecticut
slipped the formal bonds that have held his comedy in restraint — Irving Kolodin
c. : to escape from (one's memory or notice)
the appointment slipped his memory
was so absorbed in his thoughts that the approaching storm slipped his attention
3. : cast , shed
the snake slipped its skin
4.
a. archaic : neglect , overlook — sometimes used with over
b. : to pass over or set aside : leave out of account or consideration : omit
had slipped our claim until another age — Shakespeare
c. obsolete : to let (an appointed time) go by
did command me to call timely on him; I have almost slipped the hour — Shakespeare
5. : to put (a garment) hastily or carelessly — usually used with on
slip on a coat
6. : to utter inadvertently
never once did he slip even the name of … that town — Will Irwin
7.
a. : to let loose from a restraining leash or grasp
the puppies were slipped and off they tore — Manchester Guardian Weekly
b. : to cause to slip open : release , undo
slipped the knots that bound him
in the darkness he slipped the night lock and went out — James Jones
c. : to loosen one's grip on or connection with : let go of
slipped her lines and began the final leg of her homeward journey — Crowsnest
with her tug slipped, she moved at gathering speed into the dark, open sea — J.E.Macdonnell
d. : to disengage from (an anchor) instead of hauling in
ships began slipping their anchors, but her skipper … wouldn't slip his — Max Hunn
: get free of (an anchor cable)
slipped its cable and made a run for the open sea
e. Britain : to detach (a slip carriage) en route
knows all the stations where the train stops or where carriages are slipped — Bertrand Russell
8.
a. : to insert, place, or pass quietly or secretly
slipped the letter into his pocket when no one was looking
slipping a wink to his brother — L.C.Douglas
b. : to give or pay on the sly
slipped some money to the chief of police — Emmett Kelly
9. of a domestic animal : to give birth to prematurely : abort
some cows slip their calves in the early stages of pregnancy — New Zealand Journal of Agric.
10. : dislocate
slipped his shoulder
: suffer the slipping of (one's foot)
slipped his foot on the patch of oil and fell
11. : palm
slip a card
12.
a. : to transfer (a stitch) from one needle to another without working a stitch — compare decrease vt 2
b.
[ slip stitch ]
: to sew (something) with slip stitches
13.
a. : to avoid (a punch) by moving the body or head quickly to one side
couldn't believe that he relied on speed of eye and head to slip such punches — A.J.Liebling
b. : to cause (a descending parachute) to glide in a particular direction by pulling down on suspension lines on the side toward the desired direction so as to spill air out of the opposite side of the canopy
•
- slip a cog
- slip one's trolley
- slip something over
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slippe, from slippen to slip
1.
a.
(1) : a sloping ramp (as of stone) extending out into the water far enough to serve as a landing place for ships
(2) : an inclined plane on which a ship is built or upon which it is hauled for repair
(3) : a ship's berth between two piers or wharves
b. : a narrow passageway ; specifically : a mountain pass : defile
2. : the act or an instance of slipping out or away : secret or hurried departure, escape, or evasion
under cover of night, gave his enemy the slip and rejoined his convoy — Edward Breck
3.
a. : a mistake in judgment, policy, or procedure : blunder
a slip of presidential timing — Time
one of the slips a wise man sometimes makes — F.L.Mott
b. : a false step : a usually slight offense or misdeed
make a slight moral slip — tell a lie, for instance, or smuggle a silk dress through the customhouse — O.W.Holmes †1894
c. : an unintentional and trivial mistake or fault : error , lapse
scan the purely mathematical reasoning to make sure that there are no mere slips in it — A.N.Whitehead
a slip of the tongue
4. : a leash or lead by which a dog is held and which is so made that it can be quickly slipped
5.
a. : the act or an instance of slipping down or out of place or control
a slip on the ice
: a sudden mishap
many a slip between the cup and the lip
b. : a movement dislocating the parts of a rock mass : the result of such a movement or a joint plane on which such a movement has taken place : a fault usually of slight displacement ; specifically : one of the components of a fault movement that is confined to the plane of the fault : the displacement itself measured in a fault plane — see dip slip , strike slip , total slip
c. : displacement of one part of a crystal with respect to another along a particular plane — called also slippage
d. : a fall from some level or standard : decline
a slip in stock prices
6. : a garment or covering that slips on easily: as
a. : an undergarment made in dress lengths with shoulder straps or in skirt lengths as petticoats
b. dialect Britain : a child's pinafore
c. chiefly Britain : bathing suit
d. : a cloth covering for a pillow : pillowcase
7.
a. slips plural , archaic : the portions of the wings of a theater from which the scenes are slipped into place and where the actors stand just before their entrances
b. Britain : the sides of the upper gallery of a theater
8.
a. : one of several cricket fielders positioned on the off side of the wicketkeeper and behind point
b. slips noun plural but singular in construction : the part of the field in which the slips are placed — see cricket illustration
9.
a. : the motion of the center of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel or the blade of an oar through the water horizontally ; also : the difference between a ship's actual speed and the speed which it would have if the propeller worked in a solid
b.
(1) : retrograde movement of a belt on a pulley or vice versa that is in excess of the movement due to expansion and contraction of the belt as its tension varies — compare creep 5b
(2) : the sliding movement of a link relative to a link block that is due to swinging of the link
(3) : relative motion of parts (as of a clutch or coupling) of a mechanism designed to have none
c. : the difference between the operating and synchronous speed of an induction motor ; also : the ratio of this difference to the synchronous speed of the motor usually expressed as a percentage
d.
(1) : a flow of fluid adjacent to a conduit wall that ceases to be laminar and slides along the surface as if it were a solid
(2) : the amount of leakage past the piston and valves of a pump of the impellers of a blower usually expressed as a percentage of the nominal flow
e. : the difference between the effective pitch of an airplane propeller and its mean geometrical pitch usually expressed as a percentage of the latter
f. : a leakage of gas past the rotor of a gas meter
10. : one of the projecting ends of the cords with which a book is sewed that are used to fasten the book to its covering boards
11. : noncontagious abortion of a domestic animal
this type of cow would breed itself out because of slips and deaths in early spring — New Zealand Journal of Agric.
12.
a. : a disposition or tendency to slip easily
good slip is required of a plastic film to facilitate bag making — Walter Egan
b. : the quality of a paint or enamel that permits easy application with a brush
13.
a. : sideslip
b. : the act or an instance of slipping a parachute
14. : chassé 1
Synonyms: see error , wharf
III. adjective
Etymology: slip (I)
1.
a. : operating by slipping or sliding
a slip bar
b. : detachable
a slip compartment
2. : having a slipknot : operated by means of a slipknot
a slip cord
3. : capable of being released quickly
a slip bolt
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slippe, probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, split, slit, flap of a garment
1.
a. : a small shoot or twig cut for planting or grafting : cutting , scion
b. : descendant , offspring
a lazy, conceited, whey-faced slip of gentility — Sir Walter Scott
c.
(1) : a pineapple plant developing from a bud at the base of the fruit
(2) : a rooted sweet potato sprout
2.
a. : a long narrow strip of material
slips of matchwood, bleached and split — Thomas Wood †1950
a glass slip
b.
(1) : a piece of paper used for a memorandum or record
deposit slip
sales slip
(2) : a usually small or narrow piece of paper used as an insert in a book or periodical
a cancel slip
an errata slip
c.
(1) : a portion of the columns of a newspaper or other work struck off by itself
(2) : galley proof
3.
a.
(1) : a young and slender person
a slip of fourteen, just fresh from school — Richard Free
(2) : a small and slender or undeveloped specimen — used with of
a slip of a girl
a slip of a boy
an attractive little slip of a coloratura soprano — Douglas Watt
(3) Australia : a young pig
b. : a narrow stretch
a thin slip of gray beach and blue sea — May Sinclair
c. : a small or unusually narrow instance or example — used with of
a slip of a room which just held a trestle table and a couple of chairs — Edith C. Rivett
in hard weather he stayed in his snug slip of a house — Mary Webb
d. : a long seat or narrow pew in a church
the interior has the old box pews, or slips, each with an individual door — American Guide Series: Vermont
4. dialect chiefly England : a hank of yarn
5. : an imperfectly castrated cockerel that is seldom able to reproduce but lacks the desirable meat-producing characteristics of the capon
V. transitive verb
( slipped ; slipped ; slipping ; slips )
1. : to write or note upon a slip
this use of the word has been slipped and filed
2. : to replace a book card in (a book) when returned to a library
VI. transitive verb
( slipped ; slipped ; slipping ; slips )
Etymology: Middle English slippen to cut off, probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, to split, slit
: to take cuttings from (a plant) : divide into slips
slip a geranium
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slyp slime, curds, from Old English slypa slime, paste, pulp; akin to Old English slūpan to slip — more at sleeve
1.
a. : a mixture of fine clay and water having the consistency of cream and used in the casting process, for the decoration of ceramic ware, or as a cement for handles and other applied parts : slurry
b. : enamel or glaze powdered and suspended in water and ready for application
2. : skinning loam
VIII. transitive verb
( slipped ; slipped ; slipping ; slips )
1. : to convert into slip
2. : to coat with slip