slip

[[t]slɪ̱p[/t]]

♦♦

slips, slipping, slipped

1) VERB If you slip, you accidentally slide and lose your balance.

He had slipped on an icy pavement...

Be careful not to slip.

Syn:

slide

2) VERB If something slips, it slides out of place or out of your hand.

His glasses had slipped...

[V prep/adv] The hammer slipped out of her grasp.

3) VERB If you slip somewhere, you go there quickly and quietly.

[V adv/prep] Amy slipped downstairs and out of the house...

[V adv/prep] She slipped into the driving seat and closed the door.

Syn:

slide

4) VERB If you slip something somewhere, you put it there quickly in a way that does not attract attention.

[V n prep] I slipped a note under Louise's door...

[V n prep] He found a coin in his pocket and slipped it into her collecting tin...

[V n with adv] Just slip in a piece of paper.

Syn:

slide

5) VERB If you slip something to someone, you give it to them secretly.

[V n n] Robert had slipped her a note in school...

[V n to n] She looked round before pulling out a package and slipping it to the man.

6) VERB To slip into a particular state or situation means to pass gradually into it, in a way that is hardly noticed.

[V into n] It amazed him how easily one could slip into a routine...

[V into n] There was 50-50 chance that the economy could slip back into recession.

Syn:

slide

7) VERB If something slips to a lower level or standard, it falls to that level or standard.

[V to/from/by amount/n] Shares slipped to 117p...

[V to/from/by amount/n] The club had slipped to the bottom of Division Four...

[V amount] In June, producer prices slipped 0.1% from May...

Overall business activity is slipping.

N-SING: oft N in n

Slip is also a noun.

...a slip in consumer confidence.

8) VERB If you slip into or out of clothes or shoes, you put them on or take them off quickly and easily.

[V into/out of n] She slipped out of the jacket and tossed it on the couch...

[V n with on/off] I slipped off my woollen gloves.

9) N-COUNT A slip is a small or unimportant mistake.

We must be well prepared, there must be no slips.

Syn:

slip-up

10) N-COUNT: oft N of n A slip of paper is a small piece of paper.

...little slips of paper he had torn from a notebook...

I put her name on the slip.

...credit card slips.

11) N-COUNT A slip is a thin piece of clothing that a woman wears under her dress or skirt.

Syn:

petticoat

12) N-COUNT: usu sing, N of a n If you refer to someone as a slip of a girl or a slip of a boy, you mean they are small, thin, and young. [INFORMAL]

He's a mere slip of a lad compared to his brother...

She was just a slip of a thing.

13) → See also Freudian slip

14) PHRASE: V inflects If you give someone the slip, you escape from them when they are following you or watching you. [INFORMAL]

He gave reporters the slip by leaving at midnight.

15) PHRASE: let inflects If you let slip information, you accidentally tell it to someone, when you wanted to keep it secret.

I bet he let slip that I'd gone to America.

16) PHRASE: V and N inflect If something slips your mind, you forget about it.

The reason for my visit had obviously slipped his mind.

17) slip through your fingers → see finger

slip of the tongue → see tongue

Phrasal Verbs:

- slip in

- slip through

- slip up