Sip Meaning
/sɪp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA small mouthful of drink.
nounAn event at which people drink alcohol in small, usually subintoxicating amounts.
Sentence Examples
I had to sip the coffee because it was too hot.
Tom took a sip of coffee.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She decided to ____ her hot tea carefully because it was too hot to drink quickly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Take a small ____ of the hot tea to see if it is still too hot to drink.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English sippen, of uncertain origin. Compare with Low German sippen (“to sip”). Possibly from a variant of Middle English suppen (“to drink, sip”) (see sup) or perhaps from Old English sipian, sypian (“to take in moisture, soak, macerate”), from Proto-Germanic *sipōną (“to drip, trickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb- (“to pour out, trickle, leak out”). Compare also Old High German supfen (“to drink, sip”), from Proto-Germanic *sūpaną (“to sip, intake”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"So order one more coffee / Have another sip of wine / We can go on talking / Until it's disco closing time"
— 1977, The Originals, “Been Decided”, in Down to Love Town:
"Earl is always a good time. His appearance at parties, whether it's a smart cocktail sip or a basement gig, is mandatory."
— 1985 April 20, Joseph Beam, “Black Men Loving Black Men: The Revolutionary Act of the Eighties”, in Gay Community News, page 5:
"He held out to me a bowl of steaming broth, that filled the room with a savour sweeter, ten thousand times, to me than every rose and lily of the world; yet would not let me drink it at a gulp, but made me sip it with a spoon like any baby."
— [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, “In the Vault”, in Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC, pages 62–63:
"A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food."
— 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She decided to ____ her hot tea carefully because it was too hot to drink quickly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Take a small ____ of the hot tea to see if it is still too hot to drink.