# slip

> English word · Verb · IPA /slɪp/ · frequency rank #4,488

## Definitions
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.
5. To elude or evade by smooth movement.
6. To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.
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.
9. To move down; to slide.
10. To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry.
11. Clipping of sideslip (“to fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind”).
12. To remove the skin of a soft fruit, such as a tomato or peach, by blanching briefly in boiling water, then transferring to cold water so that the skin peels, or slips, off easily.
13. To omit; to lose by negligence.
14. To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of.
15. To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place.
16. To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.
17. To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline.

## Etymology
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”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian slipje (“to slip”), Dutch slippen (“to slip”), German Low German slippen.

## Easily confused with
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sp)
- **SNP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-snp)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sup)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sly)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sti)
- **Sui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sui)
- **SSI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-ssi)
- **SLR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-slr)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-sop)
- **soi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-soi)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-stp)
- **SVP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-svp)
- **SMP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-smp)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-stop)
- **slow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-slow)
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-suit)
- **soil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-soil)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-spin)
- **snap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-snap)
- **swim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slip-vs-swim)

## Common misspellings (6)
`lsip`, `silp`, `slipp`, `sllip`, `slpi`, `sslip`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slip