sop

1 of 3

noun

ˈsäp 

1

chiefly dialectal : a piece of food dipped or steeped in a liquid

2

: a conciliatory or propitiatory bribe, gift, or gesture

sop

2 of 3

verb

sopped; sopping

transitive verb

1

a

: to steep or dip in or as if in liquid

b

: to wet thoroughly : soak

2

: mop sense 1

SOP

3 of 3

abbreviation

standard operating procedure; standing operating procedure

Did you know?

The etymology of sop takes us from bread to hellhounds to bribery. The journey starts over 900 years ago, when sop first referred to bread soaked in water, wine, or another liquid. Such soggy bread was considered a treat sure to tempt any appetite. Sops were considered so appealing that English translations of Virgil's Aeneid tell of a sibyl using one soaked in honey to distract and drug Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog of the gates of the underworld, so Aeneas could get by him safely. By the 1600s, that mythological use of sop had given rise to the expression give a sop to Cerberus, meaning "to bribe," and to using sop to refer to a bribe or conciliatory gift.

Synonyms of sop

Noun

• bribe

Verb

• soak
• drown
• saturate
• steep
• dip

Examples of sop in a Sentence

Noun

as a sop to the teachers' union for supporting his reelection campaign, the mayor promised to push for the abolition of the residency requirement

Verb

sopped the sponge with the detergent and began scrubbing the floor vigorously

my book fell in the swimming pool and was thoroughly sopped before I could fish it out

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This was seen as a sop to the luxury sector of manufacturers like Ferrari, Aston Martin, Volkswagen’s Bentley and Lamborghini. —Neil Winton, Forbes.com, 15 Jan. 2026

Schwartzman, though, is comic gold as an inappropriate inlaw while Sessa brightens things up as a broken-hearted sop who insinuates himself with all the elan of a Lab puppy into the neighbor’s next door household. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025

Verb

The packing material, which may be paper, peat, or wood shavings, also should still be damp, not sopping wet. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2026

In the away end, on this putrid, sopping evening in N17, the bigger picture is steamrolled by the small. —George Caulkin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English soppe, from Old English sopp; akin to Old English sūpan to swallow — more at sup

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing sop

• sop up

Rhymes for sop

• bop
• chop
• cop
• crop
• drop
• flop
• fop
• hop
• knop
• lop
• mop
• op

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Kids Definition

sop

1 of 2 noun

ˈsäp 

1

chiefly dialect : a piece of food dipped or soaked in a liquid (as bread dipped in milk or gravy)

2

: a bribe or gift for soothing or winning approval

sop

2 of 2 verb

sopped; sopping

1

a

: to soak or dip in or as if in liquid

b

: to wet thoroughly

2

: to mop or soak up

sopping up gravy with bread