slip

1. 1.

   move stealthily

   “The ship slipped away in the darkness”

   Synonymssteal

   Broadermove
2. 2.

   insert inconspicuously or quickly or quietly

   “He slipped some money into the waiter's hand”

   Broaderinsert
3. 3.

   move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner

   “the wheels skidded against the sidewalk”

   Synonymsskidslueslewslide

   Broaderglide

   Narrowersubmarineskidside-slip
4. 4.

   get worse

   “My grades are slipping”

   Synonymsdrop offdrop awayfall away

   Broaderworsen

   Narrowerlapse
5. 5.

   move smoothly and easily

   “the bolt slipped into place”

   “water slipped from the polished marble”

   Broaderescape
6. 6.

   to make a mistake or be incorrect

   Synonymserrmistake

   Narrowermisrememberstumblemisjudgefall for
7. 7.

   pass on stealthily

   “He slipped me the key when nobody was looking”

   Synonymssneak

   Broaderpass
8. 8.

   move easily

   “slip into something comfortable”

   Broadermove
9. 9.

   cause to move with a smooth or sliding motion

   “he slipped the bolt into place”

   Broadermove
10. 10.

    pass out of one's memory

    Synonymsslip one's mind

    Broaderforget
11. 11.

    move out of position

    “dislocate joints”

    “the artificial hip joint luxated and had to be put back surgically”

    Synonymsdislocateluxatesplay

    Broadermove

Other forms of slip

plural

slips·

past tense or participle

slipped

present participle

slipping

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about slip

What does slip mean?

slip means "a socially awkward or tactless act". That is the primary sense; the word has 26 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in slip?

slip has 1 syllable: slip. In IPA it is /ˈslɪp/.

What is another word for slip?

Close synonyms include faux pas, gaffe, solecism, gaucherie, slip-up. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is slip a common word?

slip is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.