tip off
"tip-off" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tip off” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To alert or inform (someone), especially confidentially.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tip off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tip off” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tip off is 7 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tip off, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is tip off, spelled T-I-P- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1To alert or inform (someone), especially confidentially.
- 2To put the ball in play by throwing it up between two opponents.
- 3To put the ball in play by throwing it up between two opponents.
- 4To pour out (liquor); to tip the vessel and drink until it is empty.
- 5To use a particular brush technique for producing a flawless surface on a wet coat of paint.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “tip off”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-I-P- -O-F-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.