Slip

How to spell slip

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce slip

What does slip mean?

1. verbTo slide suddenly and lose one's footing or grip, often by accident.
2. nounA small piece of paper, often used for a note, receipt, or record.
3. nounA light undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt.

Slip in a sentence

• verb

  Wet tiles can make you slip near the pool.

• noun

  She wrote the address on a slip and tucked it in her pocket.

• noun

  The thin dress needed a slip underneath to stop it clinging.

• verb

  He tried not to slip on the icy steps outside the office.

• noun

  Keep the deposit slip in case the bank loses the record.

• noun

  She packed a silk slip to wear under the evening gown.

Where does slip come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Germanic family and entered English in the Middle Ages, probably from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch slippen, meaning 'to glide' or 'to slide smoothly'. The root carries the sense of something moving frictionlessly and uncontrollably, which is why a foot can slip on ice and a remark can slip out unintended. By the 1300s English had taken up the verb, and the noun senses grew alongside it: a 'slip' of paper is a thin piece that seems to slide easily from a larger sheet, and a 'slip' worn under a dress takes its name from the way the garment slides on. The same root family also gave us 'slipper', the shoe you slide your foot into. Because the word has always been short and phonetically simple, its spelling has stayed remarkably stable for centuries.

How the word is built

• slip (a single Germanic root meaning to glide or slide; no prefix or suffix)