slip

1 of 5

verb (1)

ˈslip

slipped; slipping

Synonyms of slip next

intransitive verb

: to move with a smooth sliding motion

: to move quietly and cautiously : steal

: elapse, pass

a(1)

: to escape from memory or consciousness

(2)

: to become uttered through inadvertence

: to pass quickly or easily away : become lost

let an opportunity slip

: to fall into error or fault : lapse

: to slide out of place or away from a support or one's grasp

: to slide on or down a slippery surface

slip on the stairs

: to flow smoothly

: to get speedily into or out of clothing

slipped into his coat

: to fall off from a standard or accustomed level by degrees : decline

: sideslip

transitive verb

: to cause to move easily and smoothly : slide

: to get away from : elude, evade

slipped his pursuers

: to free oneself from

the dog slipped its collar

: to escape from (one's memory or notice)

their names slip my mind

: shed, cast

the snake slipped its skin

: to put on (a garment) quickly

—usually used with on

slip on a coat

: to let loose from a restraining leash or grasp

: to cause to slip open : release, undo

slip a lock

: to let go of

: to disengage from (an anchor) instead of hauling

: to insert, place, or pass quietly or secretly

: to give or pay on the sly

: slink, abort

: dislocate

slipped his shoulder

: to transfer (a stitch) from one needle to another without working a stitch

: to avoid (a punch) by moving the body or head quickly to one side

slip

2 of 5

noun (1)

: a sloping ramp extending out into the water to serve as a place for landing or repairing ships

: a ship's or boat's berth between two piers

: the act or an instance of departing secretly or hurriedly

gave his pursuer the slip

: a mistake in judgment, policy, or procedure

: an unintentional and trivial mistake or fault : lapse

a slip of the tongue

: a leash so made that it can be quickly slipped

: the act or an instance of slipping down or out of a place

a slip on the ice

also : a sudden mishap

: a movement dislocating parts (as of a rock or soil mass)

also : the result of such movement

: a fall from some level or standard : decline

a slip in stock prices

: an undergarment made in dress length and usually having shoulder straps

also : half-slip

: a case into which something is slipped

specifically : pillowcase

: a disposition or tendency to slip easily

: the action of sideslipping : an instance of sideslipping

slip

3 of 5

noun (2)

: a small shoot or twig cut for planting or grafting : scion

: descendant, offspring

: a long narrow strip of material

: a small piece of paper

: a young and slender person

a slip of a girl

: a long seat or narrow pew

slip

4 of 5

verb (2)

slipped; slipping

transitive verb

: to take cuttings from (a plant) : divide into slips

slip a geranium

slip

5 of 5

noun (3)

: a mixture of finely divided clay and water used especially by potters (as for casting or decorating wares or in cementing separately formed parts)

Choose the Right Synonym for slip

error, mistake, blunder, slip, lapse mean a departure from what is true, right, or proper.

error suggests the existence of a standard or guide and a straying from the right course through failure to make effective use of this.

procedural errors

mistake implies misconception or inadvertence and usually expresses less criticism than error.

dialed the wrong number by mistake

blunder regularly imputes stupidity or ignorance as a cause and connotes some degree of blame.

diplomatic blunders

slip stresses inadvertence or accident and applies especially to trivial but embarrassing mistakes.

a slip of the tongue

lapse stresses forgetfulness, weakness, or inattention as a cause.

a lapse in judgment

Examples of slip in a Sentence

Verb (1) the store's quality of service began to slip after the new owners took over be careful not to slip on the spilled oil casually slipped it into the conversation slipped behind the cover of the trees jumped into the car and slipped behind the wheel periodically crabs slip their shells and grow new ones Noun (1) a careless slip of the tongue had a nasty slip on the ice gave her pursuers the slip that's not the sort of slip that a prudent person would have made Noun (2) baskets woven from slips of wicker

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Boats had been moved out of their slips while the docks were being remodeled, leaving lots of space for sea lions in search of a place to rest. —

Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024 The top zips closed to keep your belongings safely inside, and there’s a slip pocket on the back for additional space to hold other essentials. —

Lauren Taylor, Southern Living, 7 May 2024 The former tech executive donned a black suit paired with a half-zip and white shirt underneath, and Sanchez wore a lace cocktail dress with a nude-toned slip underneath and lots of glimmering silver jewelry. —

Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 6 May 2024 From Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe gown to Princess Diana’s slip dress, revisit many of the buzziest moments from fashion's biggest night Often referred to as the biggest night in fashion, the Met Gala’s guests are in a prime position to make a statement with their looks. —

Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 5 May 2024 Princess Diana's silk slip, 1996 Met Gala Princess Diana attends Met Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on January 1, 1996 in New York City. —

Renee Anderson, CBS News, 4 May 2024 Mannequins are styled in items from the brand’s Spring-Summer 2024 collection, like the black chantilly lace bodysuit ($890) and matching skirt ($2,690) topped with the double crepe sablé boyfriend blazer ($2,290) and the suntan chantilly lace slip gown ($3,890). —

Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Apr. 2024 The new system distributes wheel slip management to each individual electric motor, reducing torque reaction from 100 milliseconds to a single millisecond giving drivers even more control over icy and slippery conditions. —

Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 2024 Leases for the marina shops and other facilities will provide about $1.9 million and the rest is from fees charged for parking and to be on the slip rental wait list, inspections and other services. —

Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2024

Verb

For the first Monday in May, Union slipped into a glimmering ombré aqua Michael Kors mermaid gown, pairing it with a sheer polish reminiscent of the inside of a seashell. —

Kara Nesvig, Allure, 7 May 2024 Other notable after-party changes included Cara Delevingne, who removed her Joan of Arc-esque headpiece and slipped into something more comfortable—a checked blazer—and Charlie XCX, who donned a minidress and a pair of shades for a bit of edge. —

Vogue, 7 May 2024 Image: Nintendo Switch console sales have slipped substantially since their peak in 2021, while the OLED model — the most recent version of the now near-decade-old console — enjoyed a small 1.1 percent bump in sales year over year. —

Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 7 May 2024 The linen material is lightweight and breezy enough to slip into for summer barbecues, al fresco dining, and graduation parties alike. —

Michelle Rostamian, Peoplemag, 6 May 2024 Because while the City of Light may be known as the cradle of fashion, culture, and gastronomy, not too long ago it was also regularly accused of slipping into a lazy, even smug, complacency—stuck in its ways, resting on the laurels of its storied past. —

Vivian Song, Robb Report, 4 May 2024 Seeing Galitzine convincingly slip into the role of pop star not just on screen but in the recording studio, too, felt prophetic to Pine. —

Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2024 This is the principle enunciated by historian Niall Ferguson that any nation that spends more on interest payments on the debt than on military spending will slip into decline. —

David Brooks, The Mercury News, 1 May 2024 The central bank must balance its campaign against elevated inflation with ensuring the economy does not slip into a recession. —

Rob Wile, NBC News, 1 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English slippen, probably going back to Old English *slippan, weak verb cognate with Middle Dutch slippen "to lose one's footing, slip," Middle Low German slippen, Old High German pesliphen, pislipfan "to lose one's footing, stumble," intensive derivative of Germanic *sleipan- "to slide, slip" — more at slipper entry 1

Note: The Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, and Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology take the Middle English verb to be a loan from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, though it seems equally or more probable that it is a native formation, as was Walter Skeat's view.

Noun (1)

Middle English slype, slipp "sloping landing place for a boat," noun derivative of slippen "to slip entry 1"

Noun (2)

Middle English slyp "edge of a garment," probably borrowed from Middle Dutch sleppe, slippe "loose end of a garment" or Middle Low German slippe, in same sense, of uncertain origin

Note: The earliest sense of this word, "edge of a garment," is first attested in the English-Latin dictionary Promptorium parvulorum (ca. 1440), in the entry "Slyp, or skyrte: Lascinia [for classical lacinia 'border of a garment, edge, hem']." Presumably derived from this meaning is sense 2. The meaning "scion, offspring" (sense 1 and hence sense 3) is first attested in Wynkyn de Worde's printed edition (1495) of the medieval encyclopedia De proprietatis rerum, adapted from John of Trevisa's 14th-century English translation. It is not clear how "scion, offspring" might relate to the other English meanings ("strip of material" > "shoot of a plant"?), or to the presumed Middle Dutch/Middle Low German etyma, which have no comparable sense. -- The word slyp is also attested in the sense "cleft, crack" in late Middle Dutch (the dictionary Teuthonista of Duytschlender of Gert van der Schueren, 1477); it has been suggested that this was the earliest sense, with "cleft in a piece of fabric" leading to the meaning "loose end of a garment." The noun slyp is clearly derived from an earlier verb slippen "to split," which may be a weak derivative *slippōn- (< *slib-no-) of a Germanic strong verb *sleiban- evident in Old English tōslāf "(s/he) split, cleaved," assumed infinitive tōslīfan (see sliver entry 1).

Verb (2)

derivative of slip entry 3

Noun (3)

Middle English slyp, slype, slyppe "mud, slime," going back to Old English slypa, slyppe, slipa (masculine or feminine weak noun) "slime, paste, pulp," going back to Germanic *slupjōn-, zero-grade noun derivative from a Class II strong verb *sleupan- "to creep, glide" (whence Old English slūpan "to slip, glide, move softly," Middle Dutch slūpen "to creep, glide," Old High German sliufan "to slip, creep," Gothic sliupan "to slip (in), enter stealthily"), probably back-formed from an intensive derivative *slupp- (as in Old High German slopfāri "itinerant monk," intslupfen "to slip away, escape") of a hypothetical verbal base *sleub- "slip," perhaps going back to Indo-European *sleu̯b^h — more at sleeve

Note: This account of the origin of *sleupan- is based on R. Lühr, Expressivität und Lautgesetz im Germanischen (Heidelberg, 1988), p. 352; her hypothesis is taken up in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (2. Auflage, 2001), s.v. *sleu̯b^h-. As the author points out, this back-formation would have to extend as far as the ancestor of Gothic to account for the verb in that language.

First Known Use

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

1530, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1640, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of slip was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Slip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slip. Accessed 10 May. 2024.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

slip

1 of 4 verb

ˈslip

slipped; slipping

: to move easily and smoothly : slide

slip the knife into its sheath

: to move or place quietly or sneakily

slipped from the room

: to pass without being noticed or used

let the opportunity slip

: to get away from

slipped his pursuers

: to free from : shed

the dog slipped its collar

: to escape the attention or memory of

it slipped my mind

: to express or become expressed unintentionally

the secret slipped out

: to cause to slide open : release

slip a bolt

: to let a knitting stitch pass from one needle to another without working a new stitch

: to slide out of place, away from a support, or from one's grasp

: to slide so as to fall or lose balance

slipped on the ice

: to cause to slide especially in putting, passing, or inserting easily or quickly

slip into a coat

: to fall from some level or standard usually gradually or by degrees

slip

2 of 4 noun

: a sloping ramp that extends out into the water and serves for landing or repairing ships

: a place for a ship between two piers

: the act or an instance of departing secretly or hurriedly

: a mistake in judgment, selected course of action, or way of doing things : blunder, misstep

: the act or an instance of slipping down or out of place

a slip on the ice

also : a sudden mishap

: an undergarment made in dress length with shoulder straps

: pillowcase

slip

3 of 4 noun

: a small shoot or twig cut for planting or grafting : cutting

: a long narrow strip of material

: a small piece of paper

a sales slip

slip

4 of 4 noun

: thin wet clay used in pottery for casting, for decoration, or as a cement

Etymology

Verb

Middle English slippen "to move by sliding, to move quietly or unnoticed"; of Germanic origin

Noun

Middle English slippe "a small shoot or twig for planting or grafting"; probably of Germanic origin

Noun

Old English slypa "slime, paste"

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slip

verb (1)

noun (1)

noun (2)

verb (2)

noun (3)

Synonyms

Examples of slip in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near slip

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition