slip
/slip/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A minor error or mistake: A small, often careless mistake in speech, writing, or action.
- An act of sliding unintentionally: A sudden, accidental loss of footing or balance.
- A small piece of paper: A thin, often rectangular piece of paper, such as a receipt or form.
- A woman's undergarment: A sleeveless, lightweight piece of clothing worn under a dress.
- A young, slender person: A person, especially a young one, who is thin and slight in build.
- A cutting from a plant: A small shoot or twig cut from a plant for grafting or propagation.
Verb:
- To slide unintentionally: To lose one's footing or balance on a smooth surface.
- To move smoothly and quietly: To go or pass somewhere quickly, easily, or without being noticed.
- To make a minor mistake: To err slightly or inadvertently.
- To pass or decline gradually: To move into a worse state or condition.
- To put or pass something discreetly: To give, insert, or place something quickly and often secretly.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- He made a slip in his calculations. (He made a minor error in his calculations.)
- She had a nasty slip on the icy sidewalk. (She had a bad fall on the icy sidewalk.)
- Please fill out this deposit slip. (Please complete this small paper form for a deposit.)
- The slip of a girl stood quietly in the corner. (The slender young girl stood quietly in the corner.)
Verb:
- Be careful not to slip on the wet floor. (Be careful not to slide and fall on the wet floor.)
- The thief slipped out the back door. (The thief moved quietly out the back door.)
- I'm sorry, I slipped and called you by the wrong name. (I'm sorry, I made a mistake and used the wrong name.)
- His performance has slipped this semester. (His performance has declined this semester.)
- He slipped me a note during the meeting. (He passed me a note discreetly during the meeting.)
Advanced Usage
"To let (something) slip": To reveal information accidentally.
- He let slip the secret during the conversation. (He accidentally revealed the secret during the conversation.)
"A slip of the tongue/pen": An unintentional error in speaking or writing.
- Calling the boss by the wrong name was just a slip of the tongue. (It was an accidental verbal mistake.)
"To slip one's mind": To be forgotten.
- I meant to call you, but it completely slipped my mind. (I intended to call you, but I forgot completely.)
Variants and Related Words
- Slippage (n): The act or an instance of slipping, especially a decline in standard or level.
- There has been a slippage in the project's timeline.
- Slippy (adj, informal): Slippery.
- The roads are slippy after the rain.
- Slip-on (n): A type of shoe without laces or fastenings.
- He wore comfortable slip-ons.
Synonyms
- Noun (error): Mistake, blunder, lapse.
- Verb (slide): Skid, slide, lose one's footing.
- Verb (move quietly): Sneak, steal, creep.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Slip away: To leave quietly or unnoticed; (of time) to pass quickly.
- She slipped away from the party early. (She left the party quietly and early.)
- The afternoon slipped away as we talked. (The afternoon passed quickly as we talked.)
Slip into:
- To put on (clothes) quickly or easily.
- I'll just slip into something more comfortable.
- To enter a place or state quietly or gradually.
- He slipped into the room without a sound.
- The patient slipped into a coma.
Slip out:
- To leave quietly.
- I have to slip out for a moment.
- To be said accidentally.
- The rude remark just slipped out.
Slip up: To make a careless mistake.
- The accountant slipped up and missed a decimal point. (The accountant made an error.)
Related Idioms
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip: Many things can go wrong between planning and achieving something.
- We think we've won the contract, but there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. (Unexpected problems could still occur.)
To give someone the slip: To escape from or evade someone.
- The fugitive managed to give the police the slip. (The fugitive escaped from the police.)
Noun
- the act of avoiding capture (especially by cunning)
- a flight maneuver; aircraft slides sideways in the air
- an unexpected slide
- bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow
- the burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase
- a woman's sleeveless undergarment
- a small sheet of paper
- a receipt slip
- artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material
- a slippery smoothness
- he could feel the slickness of the tiller
- an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall
- he blamed his slip on the ice
- the jolt caused many slips and a few spills
- a place where a craft can be made fast
- a young and slender person
- he's a mere slip of a lad
- a part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting
- potter's clay that is thinned and used for coating or decorating ceramics
- a minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc.
- a socially awkward or tactless act
Verb
- move out of position
- dislocate joints
- the artificial hip joint luxated and had to be put back surgically
- pass out of one's memory
- cause to move with a smooth or sliding motion
- he slipped the bolt into place
- move easily
- slip into something comfortable
- pass on stealthily
- He slipped me the key when nobody was looking
- to make a mistake or be incorrect
- move smoothly and easily
- the bolt slipped into place
- water slipped from the polished marble
- get worse
- My grades are slipping
- move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
- the wheels skidded against the sidewalk
- insert inconspicuously or quickly or quietly
- He slipped some money into the waiter's hand
- move stealthily
- The ship slipped away in the darkness