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PlainSpell

tip

/tɪp/noun, verb

tip is spelled T-I-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tip means “The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tip is tips.

How many letters and syllables are in tip?

Letters3: T-I-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing35 times per million words; the 2,725th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 tip?

Tip appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th 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 tip?

  • US /tɪp/

Tip has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tip.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tip?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tip from its last stressed vowel (/ɪp/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: pit.

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 tip

  • tips plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tipping participle, present
  • tipped participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tip mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.

    the tip of one's nose

  2. 2

    A piece of metal, fabric or other material used to cover the top of something for protection, utility or decoration.

    a tip for an umbrella, a shoe, a gas burner, etc.

  3. 3

    The end of a bow of a stringed instrument that is not held.

  4. 4

    A small piece of meat.

    chicken tips over rice, pork tips, marinated alligator tips

  5. 5

    A piece of stiffened lining pasted on the inside of a hat crown.

  6. 6

    A thin, boarded brush made of camel's hair, used by gilders in lifting gold leaf.

  7. 7

    Synonym of eartip (“part of earbuds”).

  8. 8

    slangThe glans penis.

    my tip sticky rn

  9. 9

    obsoleteThe knocking over of a skittle.

  10. 10

    An act of tipping up or tilting.

  11. 11

    CommonwealthIrelandUKAn area or a place for dumping something, such as rubbish or refuse, as from a mine; a heap (see tipple); a dump.

  12. 12

    CommonwealthIrelandUKRubbish thrown from a quarry.

  13. 13

    CommonwealthIrelandUKA recycling centre.

  14. 14

    colloquialA very untidy place.

  15. 15

    The act of deflecting with one's fingers, especially the fingertips

  16. 16

    A tram for expeditiously transferring coal.

  17. 17

    A gratuity; a small amount of money left for a bartender, waiter, taxi driver or other service worker as a token of appreciation, often calculated as a percentage of the bill.

    Workers in the American service industry usually depend on tips to even make minimum wage.

  18. 18

    datedA gratuity given to someone who voluntarily provides assistance.

  19. 19

    datedA small monetary gift given to a child from an older relative or family friend.

  20. 20

    A piece of private or secret information, especially imparted by someone with expert knowledge about sporting odds, business performance etc.

    hot stock tips

  21. 21

    A piece of advice.

    tips and tricks

  22. 22

    AustraliaA prediction of the winning team in a football game by a participant in a footy tipping competition.

  23. 23

    AustraliaA prediction about the outcome of something.

  24. 24

    A piece of information transmitted to law enforcement about a crime or other activity of interest.

  25. 25

    A kick or phase; one's current habits or behaviour.

  26. 26

    A particular arena or sphere of interest; a front.

  27. 27

    archaicA light blow or tap.

verb

  1. 1

    To provide with a tip; to cover the tip of.

  2. 2

    (To cause) to become knocked over, fall down or overturn.

  3. 3

    (To cause) to be, or come to be, in a tilted or sloping position; (to cause) to become unbalanced.

  4. 4

    To cause the contents of a container to be emptied out by tilting it.

  5. 5

    datedslangTo drink.

  6. 6

    To dump (refuse).

  7. 7

    USTo pour a libation or a liquid from a container, particularly from a forty of malt liquor.

  8. 8

    To deflect with one′s fingers, especially one′s fingertips.

  9. 9

    To give a small gratuity to, especially to an employee of someone who provides a service.

    You should always tip your waiter in the United States and most third world countries.

  10. 10

    To give, pass.

  11. 11

    To give a piece of private information to; to inform (someone) of a clue, secret knowledge, etc.

  12. 12

    AustraliaTo enter a prediction of the winning team of a football game, as part of a footy tipping competition.

  13. 13

    AustraliaTo predict something having a particular outcome.

  14. 14

    archaicTo hit quickly and lightly; to tap.

noun

as TIP
  1. 1

    derogatoryoffensiveInitialism of trans-identified person.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tip in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbout, pointe, extrémité (extreme end of something), décharge, déchèterie (area or place for dumping something, such as…), pourboire (small amount of money left for a servant as a…)
GermanSpitze (extreme end of something), Halde (area or place for dumping something, such as…), Trinkgeld (small amount of money left for a servant as a…), ein Trinkgeld geben (give a small amount of money to someone for a…), Tipp (piece of private information), Rat (piece of advice)
Portugueseponta, pico (extreme end of something), gorjeta (small amount of money left for a servant as a…), dar gorjeta (give a small amount of money to someone for a…), dica (piece of private information), toque (piece of advice)
Spanishpunta, ápice, ápex, herrón (extreme end of something), inclinar (to cause something to be in a tilted position), verter (cause the contents of a container to be emptied…)

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 tip come from?

From Middle English tip, typ, tippe (“tip”), of obscure and uncertain origin. Perhaps distantly related to top. Related to Saterland Frisian Tip (“tip”), West Frisian tippe, tip (“tip”), Dutch tip (“tip”), German Low German Tip, Tippel (“tip”), dialectal German Zipf (“tip”) (diminutive Zipfel used in Standard German), Danish tip (“tip”), Swedish tipp (“tip”), Icelandic typpi (“knob, pin, penis”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Timpe (“tip”), West Frisian timpe (“tip”), Old English tæppa (“tap, spigot”), Middle High German züpfel (“pointed end, tip”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tip