slip
/ˈslɪp/verb, noun
slip is spelled S-L-I-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,444th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, slip means “To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in slip?
| Letters | 4: S-L-I-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,444th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is slip?
Slip appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,444th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce slip?
- /ˈslɪp/
- [ˈslɪp]
Slip has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-slip.ogg, En-au-slip.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with slip?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as slip.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lips, lisp.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of slip
- slips present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- slipping participle, present
- slipped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slip mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
- 2
To err.
- 3
To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentionally.
- 4
To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc.
A bone may slip out of place.
- 5
To elude or evade by smooth movement.
I caught the thief, but he slipped my grasp and ran away.
- 6
To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.
She thanked the porter and slipped a ten-dollar bill into his hand.
- 7
To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.
- 8
To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.
Some errors slipped into the appendix.
noun
- 1
An act or instance of slipping.
I had a slip on the ice and bruised my hip.
- 2
A woman's undergarment worn under a skirt or dress to conceal unwanted nudity that may otherwise be revealed by the skirt or dress itself; a shift.
- 3
A slipdress.
- 4
A mistake or error.
a slip of the tongue
- 5
A berth; a space for a ship to moor.
- 6
A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.
- 7
A slipway.
- 8
A one-time return to previous maladaptive behavior after cure.
- 9
A twig or shoot; a cutting.
a slip from a vine
- 10
obsoleteA descendant, a scion.
- 11
A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier).
She couldn't hurt a fly, young slip of a girl that she is.
- 12
A long, thin piece of something.
- 13
A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information.
a salary slip
- 14
A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwriters.
- 15
A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
- 16
obsoleteMud, slime.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slip in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | glisser , se tromper, faire erreur , faire passer , empirer , glissade |
| German | ausrutschen, ausgleiten , sich im Ton vergreifen , Ausrutschen , herausrutschen, entschlüpfen |
| Portuguese | escorregar, derrapar, deslizar , escorrega |
| Spanish | resbalar, resfalar, refalar, esbarar, esvarar, esguilarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does slip come from?
From Middle English slippen, probably from Middle Low German slippen, from Old Saxon *slippian, from Proto-West Germanic *slippjan, from Proto-Germanic *slipjaną (“to glide”), an iterative form of *slīpaną (“to slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to slide”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), or related to Proto-Germanic *slībaną (“to split”); related to Old English slipor (“slippery”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).