Definition
nounEither of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth.
nounA part of the body that resembles a lip, such as the edge of a wound or the labia.
Sentence Examples
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
There's many a slip between the cup and the lip.
She never completely mastered the art of lip-reading.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English lippe, from Old English lippa, lippe (“lip”), from Proto-West Germanic *lippjō (“lip”), from Proto-Germanic *lepô, from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely, droop, sag”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lippe (“lip”), West Frisian lippe (“lip”), Dutch lip (“lip”), German Lippe and Lefze (“lip”), Low German Lippe (“lip”), Luxembourgish Lëps (“lip”), Vilamovian łyp (“lip”), Yiddish ליפּ (lip, “lip”), Danish læbe (“lip”), Norwegian Bokmål leppe (“lip”), Norwegian Nynorsk leppa, leppe, lippa, lippe (“lip”), Swedish läpp (“lip”),
Latin labium (“lip”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]thine owne lippes teſtifie againſt thee."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 15:6, column 1:
"[…]I twiſted my thighs, ſqueezed, and compreſs’d the lips of that virgin-ſlit[…]"
— 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, pages 67–68:
"The cork sails over the garden wall and lands somewhere no one can see it. A crest of white spills over the lip of the bottle and Niall pours the wine into Elaine's glass."
— 2018, Sally Rooney, “Six Months Later (July 2013)”, in Normal People:
"Kevin Sutherland: I've had enough of your lip!"
— 2008 May 1, Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, The Inbetweeners, I:ii: “Bunk Off”,:
"Loose Tomato grew up tough. No one ever suspected that he was scared every time he walked down the street. Any lip and they got their ass kicked."
— 1977, Larry Mitchell, The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions, Calamus Books; republished New York: Nightboat Books, 2020, →ISBN, page 97: