| 释义 |
▪ I. slip, n.1|slɪp|
Forms: 1 slipa, 1, 5 slype, 1, 5–6 slyppe, 5 slyp(p, slep, 7– slip.
[OE. (see sense 1), of doubtful form and obscure origin. Cf. Norw. slip, slipa slime, as on fish; G. dial. schlipper curdled milk.]
†1. A soft semi-liquid mass. Obs.
Cf. the second element in cowslip and oxlip.
c1000Saxon Leechd. II. 18 Ᵹenim sealh & ele, do ahsan, ᵹewyrc þonne to slypan. Ibid., Do þonne on þone sl pan. Ibid. III. 38 Wyrc slypan of wætere & of axsan, ᵹenim finol, wyl on þære slyppan.
2. a. Curdled milk. Now U.S.
c142526 Pol. Poems 110 My hert shulde be stedefast, Þou hast lopred as mylk, and slep in þouȝ t, Riȝt as chese þou croddest me fast. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 416 Slip, milk turned with rennet, etc., before the whey separates from the curd.
b. slip cheese, slip curd: (see quots. 1784, 1854).
1784Twamley Dairying Exemp. 31 When the whole is in a state of Slip Curd, or Slippery Curd, which is a state all Curd is in, before it becomes solid Curd. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 207 Some dairy-maids now add the slip curd. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slip⁓cheese, soft cheese, plate-cheese: that which is made without crushing out the whey.
†3. Mud, slime. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slyp (S. slype, P. slypp), idem quod slyme. a1500Adrian & Epotys 167 in Brome Bk. 30 Slyppe of þe erthe wos on off thoo, Watyr of the see god toke ther-too.
4. a. techn. A semi-liquid material, made of finely-ground clay or flint, etc., mixed with water to about the consistency of cream, and used for making, cementing, coating, or decorating pottery, tiles, etc.; also, clay suitable for making this.
1640in Entick London II. 178 Slip, the barrel,..1d. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 122 This they call Slip, and is the substance wherewith they paint their wares. Ibid., Red Slip, made of a dirty reddish clay, which gives wares a black colour. 1778England's Gaz. (ed. 2) s.v. Horsley, A reddish earth, called slip, with which they paint the vessels made at Wednesbury. 1799Kirwan Geol. Ess. 299 Under this [is] white slip, that is, potter's clay. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 484 The inside is rendered white by a wash of slip, flint, and procelain clay. 1853Ure Dict. Arts II. 451 The clay, which is used in a semi liquid state about the consistency of cream and called ‘slip’. 1884C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts iii. 295/2 Some ‘slip’, or finely-ground flint used in glazing earthenware.
b. attrib., as slip-house, slip-kiln, slip-room; slip-decoration, slip-glaze, slip-inlay, slip-state, etc. slip casting, the manufacture of ceramic articles by allowing slip to solidify in a porous mould.
1901W. P. Rix tr. E. Bourry's Treat. Ceramic Industries iv. 231 (heading) Moulding by *slip casting. 1959Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXCI. 208/1 A description is given of the technique of slip casting, and its application to the casting of high-temperature materials including ceramics and metallo-ceramics. 1974F. H. Norton Elem. Ceramics viii. 95 The slip-casting method is much used in ceramic production as it is possible by this means to reproduce very complicated shapes in plaster molds.
1960R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Cont. Pottery & Porc. 458/1 Slip decoration consists of applying to the unfired clay surface of the ware, before it has been dried and fired, contrasted coloured slips, either by trailing from a quill, [etc.]. 1973R. Fournier Illustr. Dict. Pract. Pottery 211/2 (caption) Slip decoration. An English slip-trailed dish—possibly Tickenhall.
1960Times 6 Aug. 9/7 Without the *slip⁓glaze upper decoration finish.
1832G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 40 The place where this evaporation is performed is called the *slip-house. 1902A. Bennett Anna of Five Towns viii. 167 The clay travelled naturally in a circle from the slip-house by the canal to the packing-house by the canal. 1961M. Jones Potbank viii. 30 The maker breaks a lump of clay off the hunk brought from the sliphouse.
1878Encycl. Brit. VIII. 188/2 When the ‘*slip’ inlay has become nearly of the same consistency as the tile itself.
1769J. Wedgwood Let. 9 Apr. (1965) 73 The *Slip Kiln is nearly finished. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 457 The whole is passed through fine lawn into a reservoir, from whence it is pumped upon the slip-kiln.
1752Gentl. Mag. XXII. 348 The *slip and treading rooms.
1867Brande & Cox Dict. Sci., etc. s.v. Tiles, The clays..are passed through lawn sieves in the liquid or *slip state.
c. Comb., as slip-decorated, slip-decorator, slip-glazing, slip-maker, slip-making, slip-painting, slip-strainer, slip-trailer, slip-trailing.
1883L. M. Solon Art Eng. Potter 27 (heading) *Slip-decorated ware. 1900F. Litchfield Pottery & Porcelain ii. 25 At Wrotham..were produced..quaint, slip-decorated posset-pots, tygs, and dishes. 1979Essex Jrnl. XIV. 20 There were also a number of small sherds of slip-decorated lead-glazed jugs and plates produced at Harlow.
1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §105 *Slip decorator, applies a pattern to pottery in the green state by blowing on coloured clay slips. 1960Times 6 Aug. 9/6 The dual colouring..was obtained by slip-glazing before firing.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 459 The *slip-maker carefully attends to the evaporation.
1834–6Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 450/1 *Slip making.—In the preparation of the clay for best flint ware [etc.].
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 874/2 Turning to the decorative side of pottery work, we have in *slip-painting a method as old as primitive pottery itself. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts i. 33 One particularly elaborate form of slip painting, feather combing, involves the use of a brush with multiple points.
1891Cent. Dict., *Slip-strainer,..a strainer of any form through which the slip is passed.
1940B. Leach Potter's Bk. ii. 33 There are at least half a dozen potteries in Japan where the *slip-trailer is employed. 1960H. Powell Beginner's Bk. Pottery ii. 64 Slip trailer.., a small rubber bag with a narrow neck into which is fitted a thin glass tube.
1940B. Leach Potter's Bk. vi. 147 One glaze can be trailed over another with the same instrument that is used in *slip trailing. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts i. 33 The clay may be applied in a fairly fluid form using for the purpose a container with a nozzle, much as a cake is iced by bakers. This method is called slip-trailing. a1977Harrison Mayer Ltd. Catal. 27/1 A range of coloured slips prepared for slip trailing.
▪ II. slip, n.2|slɪp|
Forms: 5–7 slippe, 6–7 slipp, 6– slip; 5 slyp, 6 slyppe, sleppe.
[app. a. MDu. or MLG. slippe (Du. and Flem. slip, LG. slipp, slippe, G. schlippe, schlipfe) cut, slit, strip, lappet, skirt, etc. The first sense of the Eng. word, however, is not recorded in any of these languages.]
I.
1. a. A twig, sprig, or small shoot taken from a plant, tree, etc., for the purpose of grafting or planting; a scion, cutting.
1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxviii. 682 Propago is a yonge braunche of a vyne that spryngith of a slippe. 1530Palsgr. 271/2 Slyppe of an herbe, branche. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 80 b, Geve me some slippes of that tree that I might set them in some orcharde. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 38 To be set of the slippes. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 39 My fairest Apple-tree was such a Slip. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 38 The Lab'rer cuts Young Slips, and in the Soil securely puts. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 224 Propagate them by cuttings, or slips of the young shoots. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxxvi, Blighted stumps and flourishing young slips. 1872H. Macmillan True Vine iii. 116 A slip taken from a tree dying of old age.
b. In fig. context. (Common c 1600.)
1513More Rich. III (1883) 64 Bastard slippes shal neuer take depe roots. 1570–76Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 299 This suppressed house..was some slippe of that tree which one James did first plant in Spaine. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 368 Beautie was no niggard of hir slippes in this gardein. 1613Dekker Devil's Last Will Wks. (Grosart) III. 353 Because he is a slip of mine owne grafting, I likewise bequeath to him my best Slippers. 1643Myst. of Iniq. 17 These Southerne plants, being slips of an Italian Stocke, could not endure this Northerne Climate.
c. A scion or descendant.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. v. i. 9 Braue slip, sprung from the Great Andronicus. a1639Wotton in Reliq. (1651) 340 Julia a little before dying,..together with an infant she bare,..and she gone without any slip remaining [etc.]. 1764Churchill Gotham ii. Poems 1772 III. 114 Any Slip of Stuart's tyrant race. 1810Crabbe Borough xx. 247 He talk'd of bastard slips, and cursed his bed. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. I. 292 No doubt..that slip [= daughter] of the country parson, keep's the whip⁓hand. 1855Thackeray Newcomes I. 110 Even rosy little slips out of the nursery who cluster round his beloved feet.
d. fig. An offshoot, outgrowth.
1626R. Bernard Isle of Man (1627) 214 Covetousness is..indeed a slip of Thrift. 1831Carlyle Misc. Ess., German Poet. (1888) III. 238 Some small slip of heathendom.
2. a. A young person of either sex, esp. one of small or slender build.
1582Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 97 The slip Ascanius..Shee cols for the father. 1589Nashe Martin Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 163 The good health and wellfare of these two yong Slipps his sonnes. 1821Scott Kenilw. xv, We know how that matter fell out, and we have corrected for it the wild slip, young Raleigh. 1841Lever C. O'Malley xciv, Shusey Dogherty was a good-looking slip. 1879Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 139 He was puny, an under⁓sized slip,—a darling to me, all the same!
b. With of (introducing descriptive term), esp. in a slip of a girl. (Cf. 8.)
a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) III. 38 This slippe of a boye Sir Walter Dungan. 1821Scott Kenilw. ii, Tony hath but a slip of a daughter. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits xv. Wks. (Bohn) II. 120 Every slip of an Oxonian or Cantabrigian who writes his first leader. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vi, There was his wife, and the slip of a girl.
c. A thin or slender person.
1703Steele Tender Husband iv. ii, My Lady Shapely has by that thin Slip eight Children. 1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. i, She was a tall slip of a woman.
3. a. dial. and N.Z. A young store-pig.
1832H. Martineau Ireland ii. 31 His mother..had a cow, and a slip of a pig. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 679 A store pig of older growth would be described as a ‘hard slip’. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Dec. 559/1 The usual practice is to buy the pigs as slips. 1977Cornish Times 19 Aug. 1/1 (Advt.), Strong quality Slips and Pigs for slaughter accepted.
b. A sole of intermediate size.
1881Daily News 4 Mar. 4/6 Small soles,..under the name of ‘slips’, were introduced into the menus of Greenwich hotels. 1884British Alm. & Comp. ii. 31 Small soles, known in the trade as ‘slips’ and ‘tongues’.
II.
4. †a. The edge, skirt, or flap of a robe or garment. Obs. rare.
c1440Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slyp, or skyrte, lascinia. 1648Hexham ii, Heft u Slippen op, take up the Edge or Slip of your Kirtle.
b. A light under-waistcoat with the edge showing to form a border to a waistcoat worn with morning dress.
1933C. St. J. Sprigg Fatality in Fleet St. viii. 98 Oakley looked like..a monkey which had surprisingly been trained to wear a morning-coat and grey slip. 1941H. G. Wells You can't be too Careful iii. x. 158 And you looking lovely in a silk hat and light grey trousers. You'll have, you know, white slips to your waistcoat.
5. A spoon-handle having the top cut off obliquely; a spoon with a handle or stem of this form. (Cf. slipped ppl. a.2 1.) Now Hist.
c1530in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 312 Twoo doson of Sponnes with Slippis un gilte. 1552Will G. Hynde (Somerset Ho.), Sixe silver sponnes callyd slyppes. 1583in Cripps Old Eng. Plate (1901) 281, xij spones called slippes weying xxiiij ownces and a half.
Comb.1580in Cripps Old Eng. Plate (1901) 281 Dosen spones, theis spones being sleppe endyd. 1902Westm. Gaz. 1 May 8/1 A set of James I. slip-top spoons. 1908Macquoid Plate Collector's Guide 103 Spoons called ‘slip-topped’ originated in the second half of the sixteenth century.
6. a. A long and relatively thin and narrow piece or strip of some material. Freq. with of.
1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 140 Such as were brused they tyed fast with theyr gyrdels with slippes of the barkes of trees. 1575Gammer Gurton i. i, Out at doores I hyed mee, And caught a slyp of bacon, when I saw that none spyed mee. 1645Doc. S. Paul's (Camden) 144, 218 carved narrowe slipps [of wood]. 1665Roxb. Ball. (1887) VI. 437 The burly fat Dutchmen being cut out in slips. 1758Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 252 Let..the joint [be] covered with a slip of canvas smeared with lute. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §97 It was steadied in that position, by..two slips of deal. 1823J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 322 This joint is connected with the nut by means of two steel slips... The other ends of these slips turn..on pins. 1863Huxley Man's Place Nat. ii. 93 One slip of the muscle is attached..to the tendons of the long flexors. 1888Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 25 A glass slip is now placed on the hot plate.
b. In special uses (see quots.).
1771Luckombe Hist. Print. 387 We always begin an Index upon an uneven page, and put a Slip or double rule at the Head thereof. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arc. Regions II. 299 The harpooners..divide the fat [of the whale] into oblong pieces or ‘slips’. 1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §82 To put..jambs, slips (sides of the jambs), and shelves to both the fireplaces. 1875T. Seaton Fret Cutting 8 Slips are pieces of Turkey or other stone about four inches long and one and a quarter wide. 1895G. E. Davis Pract. Microscopy (ed. 3) 375 Objects are generally mounted upon glass slides, or ‘slips’, as they are sometimes called. 1903G. Jack Wood Carving iii. 43 For sharpening the insides of tools, ‘slips’ are made with rounded edges of different sizes. One slip of ‘Washita’ stone and one of ‘Arcansas’. 1960C. H. Hayward Cabinet Making for Beginners (ed. 2) iv. 104 Drawer Making... Grooved slips are glued to the sides to hold the bottom.
c. An excised piece of this form.
1704–15Maryland Laws vii. (1723) 22 With a Slip cut down the Face of the Tree near the Ground.
7. A strip, a narrow piece or stretch, of land, ground, etc.
1591Fletcher Russe Commw. (Hakl.) 7 A little isthmus or narrow slippe of lande. 1682Wheler Journ. Greece i. 6 The long slip of Rocks..is..stored with many curious Plants. a1700Evelyn Diary 14 Aug. 1668, A lease of a slip of ground out of Brick Close. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 67 Acosta..divides the country into three long narrow Slips. 1775Romans Hist. Florida App. 72 The island..is a narrow slip of sand-hills. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 48 The slip of barren country between the Indus and the plain of Peshawer. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 525 Cottiers, who pay for their small slips of land by working for the principal lessees.
8. An example or specimen of something having an elongated or slender form. (Cf. 2 b.)
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 303 There is also a small Loop-Hole besides the Slip of the Window. Ibid. 312 The Light..comes from certain Slips of Windows. 1762Ann. Reg., Chron. 132/2 These children were kept to work in a small slip of a room. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. vi, When he found himself ushered into a neat sanded slip of a coffee-room. 1833H. Martineau Briery Creek iii. 57, I have a slip of a garden,..and, though it is but a slip, it is of rare mellow mould. 1881H. James Portr. Lady xxxvi, Her anxious eyes, her charming lips, her slip of a figure.
9. a. A window, apartment, passage, etc., of an elongated form.
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 302 A high and narrow Window, or a Slip, as we shall call it. 1886Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 330 A narrow slip about five feet wide, separated from the rest of the room by a transverse partition.
b. U.S. A narrow, doorless church-pew.
1828–32in Webster. 1858Rev. Statutes Wisconsin 200 All houses of public worship,..and the pews or slips and furniture therein. 1878Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. iii. 23 Why,..if there ain't the minister's boys down in that front slip!
c. pl. (See quot. 1874.)
1805Sir R. Wilson in Life (1862) I. 345 Those ladies who had not boxes sat in what would be termed in England one shilling slips. 1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 165/2 They thought they couldn't do better than go at half-price to the slips at the City Theatre. 1851Mayhew Lond. Lab. I. 19/1 When the gallery is well packed,..on the partition boards, dividing off the slips, lads will pitch themselves, despite the spikes. 1874Slang Dict. 296 Slips, the sides of the gallery in a theatre are generally so called.
10. a. A piece of paper or parchment, esp. one which is narrow in proportion to its length. Freq. with of. Also betting slip: see betting vbl. n.1 2.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., It is called Slip in English, from its Shape, it being printed in a long Slip of Paper. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Scroll, a slip or Roll of Parchment, &c. 1724Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 112 If that worthy person will let me know by post or a slip, wherein I can serve him here. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 154 I'll find a slip of sheep-skin that will do his business. 1846F. Madden Laȝamon I. Pref. p. xli, After writing near 50,000 slips, it was found impracticable to carry the design [of the glossary] into execution. 1886Weekly Notes 188/2 The registrar made a note of this declaration on a slip of paper.
†b. A newspaper (or part of one) printed in the form of a long slip of paper. Obs.
1687[see prec.]. 1692Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 417 It is said in one of the French slips, that they design to land some 1000 men in Scotland in May. 1699(title), The London Slip of News, both foreign and domestick. [Continued as, The London Post.] 1727Boyer Dict. Royal i, Lardon, (supplement de la Gazette de Hollande) the Slip that comes from Holland with the Gazette.
c. Insurance. (See quots.)
1816G. J. Bell Comm. Laws Scotl. (1826) I. 603 The policy is preceded by a Slip, which is merely a jotting or short memorandum of the terms, to which the underwriters subscribe their initials. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 184 It is customary for the underwriter to sign a ‘slip’, or short memorandum of the insurance, until the stamped policy can be completed.
d. Typog. A proof pulled on a long slip of paper, for revision before the type is made up into pages.
1818Blackw. Mag. III. 250 Bate only the correcting in the slip Never was easier Conductorship. 1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. xxi. (ed. 3) 208 The present work was set up in slips. 1878Huxley in Life (1903) II. 253, I have received slips up to chap. ix. of Hume. 1880Britten Old Country & Farm. Wds. Introd. p. vii, He has read the extracts in slip.
11. A certain quantity of yarn, etc. Now dial.
1647Hexham i, A Slip of yarne, een stuck garens. 1791Statist. Acc. Scotl. II. 308 A stone of the finest [wool]..will yield 32 slips of yarn, each containing 12 cuts. 1886Cheshire Gloss. 322 Slip,..a hank of silk or yarn before it is wound on the quills or pirn. [Cf. slipping vbl. n.2 1.]
†12. A slit or cut. Obs.—1
1688Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 20/2 In the pen there is the nick or slip or slit called the neb.
III. 13. attrib. a. In senses 1–3, as slip-graft, slip-plant; slip-pig.
1657R. Austen Fruit-Trees i. 136 They have an innate spirit from the seede.., which makes them grow better then slip-plants. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Gardiner, The Master Shoot of a slip Graft. 1844in Caroline Fox Jrnls. (1882) 187, I have three cows, three slip pigs. 1882West. Morn. News 25 Nov. 1/5 Two large slip pigs.
b. In senses 6–10, as slip-centre, slip-room, slip-window; slip-chase, slip-galley, slip proof, slip-song, slip-ticket.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §249 Twenty-three *slip centres to the arches (a slip of deal cut to the intended line of the soffit of the arch).
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 126 *Slip chases, long narrow chases made specially for ‘heading’ work.
1882J. Southward Pract. Print. (1884) 1 Newspaper *slip-galleys are made with either zinc or brass bottoms. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 126 Slip galley, a long galley the reverse of a quarto or square galley.
1892A. Oldfield Pract. Man. Typogr. iii. 37 Proofs are required in various stages, and have a distinct name in each stage, as follows:—‘*slip’, or galley proofs [etc.]. 1908W. S. Churchill Let. 8 Sept. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. ii. 839 Messrs Hodder & Stoughton should let me have all the Strand articles up to date in slip proof as soon as possible. 1973S. Jennett Making of Books (ed. 5) i. vi. 99 Paging is a manual operation carried out by compositors... Each man has his share of slip proofs.
1837Dickens Pickw. xliv, A baldheaded cobbler who rented a small *slip-room in one of the upper galleries [in the Fleet].
1878J. W. Ebsworth Bagford Ball. 918 Much less rare are the Garlands and *slip-songs which swell the volume to 918 leaves.
1888Bryce Amer. Commw. iii. lxvi. II. 493 A *slip ticket is a list, printed on a long strip of paper, of the persons..recommended by the same party or political group for the posts to be filled up at any election.
1882H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol II. i. xxiv. 110 A narrow strip of a chamber opening into the drawing-room only, and like it facing the street through a *slip-window.
▪ III. slip, n.3|slɪp|
Forms: 5 slypp (slepe), 5–6 slyppe, 5–7 slipp(e, 5– slip.
[f. (or related to) slip v.1 Cf. OHG. and MHG. slipf (G. dial. schlipf, also schlipfe) a sliding, slip, error, etc.]
I.
1. a. An artificial slope of stone or other solid material, built or made beside a navigable water to serve as a landing-place.
1467Ordin. Worcester in Eng. Gilds 374 That the slippe and the keye, and the pavyment ther, be ouerseyn and repared. Ibid. 397 That the keye Slippes, and the pavyment of the grete Slippe, be made in hast. 1475Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 312 That no..man..putte..fylth into the ryvere over no key nor slippe of the citie. 1644Prynne & Walker Fiennes' Trial 64 On the Key side next the City, there is a wall of stone..which no horse can enter,..unlesse at a slip or two. 1704in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 291, I designed to build a granary on part of that slip that comes down to the dock. 1776G. Semple Building under water 3 They came to the Slip, where one of the Horses broke his Traces and swam out. 1855Longfellow Birds of Passage i. My lost youth iii, I remember the black wharves and the slips. 1885Warren & Cleverly Wanderings ‘Beetle’ 71 We made for a ferry⁓slip, where the Commander and Doctor landed to forage.
b. Shipbuilding. An inclined plane, sloping gradually down to the water, on which ships or other vessels are built or repaired.
Hence Sw. slip, G. slip, schlipp, schlippe.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Slip, a place lying with a gradual descent on the banks of a river convenient for ship building. 1800Colquhoun Comm. & Pol. Thames xiii. 371 No Slips, dry Docks, &c. for building or repairing Vessels shall be made. 1850Longfellow Building of Ship 95 ‘Thus,’ said he, ‘will we build this ship! Lay square the blocks upon the slip’. 1894Times 1 Mar. 7/5 At Chatham, where the largest of the available building slips is being prepared for the reception of the new vessel.
c. A contrivance (patented in 1818) for hauling vessels out of the water in order to repair them.
1830Edinburgh Encycl. XVIII. 256 Slips have also been sent by Mr. Morton to France and Russia. 1880Encycl. Brit. XI. 470 Slips are the contrivance of the late Mr. Thomas Morton of Leith, and consist of a carriage or cradle working on an inclined railway [etc.].
2.
†a. A stairway. Obs. rare.
a1490Botoner Itin. (1778) 175 Item at the begynnyng of the bakk, there the fyrst gryse called a slypp, ben twey weyes, the fyrst wey ys the seyd slepe of..yerdes long. Ibid. 218 Longitudo de ‘le slip’, anglice ‘a steyre’ de lapidibus.. a summitate viæ desuper le bak usque ad ultimum gradum.
b. At Bath: A means of descending into one of the public baths (see quots.).
1778Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) II. 1053/2 The person intending to bathe..is carried in a close chair..to one of the slips which open into the bath. There he descends by steps into the water. 1791Collinson Hist. Somerset I. 40 There are slips by which the bathers descend, and adjoining to them are dressing-rooms. 1806Guide to Watering Places 27 Sufficient fires..to be made in the slips,..and to be continued the usual hours of bathing.
c. local. A narrow roadway or passage.
Cf. slype n., and G. schlippe (also schlupf, schlupfe).
1739C. Labelye Piers Westm. Bridge 2 The Slip or Passage commonly call'd by the Name of Mathew's Causeway. 1788M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 427 Came through Dunning's Slip, where the river divides Dunning Mountains, and in a short distance passed through another Slip, which divides Turris Mountain. 1868Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 13 Mar., The slip or roadway..down to the Parlor had always been a parish road.
II.
3. a. A leash for a dog, etc., so contrived that the animal can readily be released; esp. one used for a couple of greyhounds in coursing, by which they can be let go simultaneously.
1578W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest (1888) 91 He hath a Lyon in a chaine on the one side, and a Fox in a slippe on the other side. 1592Greene Conny Catch. ii. Wks. (Grosart) X. 93, I looke for a grey-hound that hath broken my slip, and is run into this house. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 366 The lion was given unto him..who led him up and down the streets in a leam or slip. 1657G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe 69 Bind his hands behind him with a dog-slip. 1704Dict. Rust. (1726) s.v. Grayhound, They must also be kept in a Slip, while abroad, till they can see their Course. a1774Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) II. 60 His men walking all the way by his side, like a greyhound in a slip. 1816Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 61 The dogs are now loosed from slips of a better construction than those formerly in use. 1839Laws of Coursing in Youatt Dog (1845) App. 260 All courses shall be from slips, by a brace of greyhounds only. 1862H. H. Dixon Scott & Sebright III. 254 Their talk is all of dogs..and fine young puppies coming forward or lost for ever to the slips.
transf.1864Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 156 He has never yet sent the Old Dessauer in upon them; always only keeps him on the slip, at Magdeburg.
†b. A cord provided with a running knot; a noose. Obs.
1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. 41 They use a certain Slip with a running-noose, which they can cast..about a Mans Neck, when they are within reach of him. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 535 The Students did not forbear to whisper among themselves, that..he sent up his soul to heaven thro a slip about his neck.
†c. A cord or string. Obs.—0
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, A hempen slip, une corde. 1727Boyer Dict. Royal ii, A Slip, (or Silk-string), Corde de Soye.
d. Bookbinding. (See quots.)
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2211/2 Slip,..the end of the twine to which the sheets are sewed, serving to attach the book to the boards. 1894Amer. Dict. Print. & Bookmaking 511 Slip, a cord used in fastening the back of a book.
e. Naut. (See quot.)
1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 604 Slips, ropes with toggles, shackles, and tongues, and various contrivances for letting go quickly.
4.
†a. The neck-opening in a shirt. Obs.—0
1648Hexham ii, Hooft-gat,..the Hole or the Slip of a Shirt through which one puts his head.
b. A child's pinafore or frock. Now dial.
1690C. Ness Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 417 Sport with them as children do with their slips, or as monkeys with their collars. 1775S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. lxxvii. (1783) III. 75 Her infants were habited in slips, or robes, evidently made by a maternal hand. 1825–in northern glossaries (Northumbld., Cumbld., Yks., etc.).
c. An article of women's attire, formerly an outer garment, later worn under a gown of lace or similar material. Also transf., an infant's garment of this nature. In twentieth c. use, an underskirt or petticoat dependent from the waist or the shoulders and having no sleeves. Colloq. phr. your slip is showing: see show v. 28 g.
1761Ann. Reg., Chron. 228/2 His..sister the princess,..drest also in a slip with hanging sleeves. 1780Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. Ser. ii. II. 527 The coat maker advises girts to be fastened on y⊇ top of the stays,..wch will not appear, being under her slip. 1816Med. Chirurg. Trans. VII. 480 His daughter was one day dressed in a pink slip. 1824L. M. Hawkins Annaline I. 206 A damsel arrayed in a green bonnet and yellow slip. 1825H. Wilson Mem. II. 103 What do you call a slip? do you mean a petticoat, or an intrigue? 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Slip,..a woman's muslin or satin under-skirt or petticoat. 1897Army & Navy Stores List, Baby Linen—Infant's Long Slip... American Satin Slip. 1903M. M. How to dress & what to Wear 185 Slips. This term is applicable either to a skirt or a bodice. A skirt slip is made of silk, satin, or even batiste, and is employed for wearing under a thin upper dress... Slips may, or may not, be provided with sleeves. 1904Queen 30 Jan. 178/3 Entire lace gowns hung over chiffon slips made graceful toilettes. 1920M. S. Woolman Clothing ix. 135 Slips or underfrocks with detachable sleeves have also been designed... Many of the slips are made without sewed-in lining. 1944H. Croome You've gone Astray xv. 158 He glowered at Linda, sitting on the edge of the bed in her slip with one stocking off. 1957J. Braine Room at Top xi. 109 She came over in her slip... She was already a different person in the blue silk garment. 1979R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. vi. 85 In her slip and pants and garter belt and stockings she would lie down.
d. A pillow-slip, pillow-case.
1800Naval Chron. IV. 337 Pillows, and slips. 1977New Yorker 27 June 72/3 What I want is my pillow... The slip is homemade.
e. Upholstery. A slot-hem in which a wire or the like may be inserted.
1891in Cent. Dict.
f. pl. In full bathing slips: bathing-drawers. (No longer in use.)
1904Times 11 Aug. 10/3 He wore a pair of bathing slips and a broad-brimmed white linen cap. 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 62 Bathing togs consisted of a bathing suit and slips, a reduced type of bathing-drawers.
5. pl. The sidings of a theatrical stage, from which the scenery is slipped on, and where the actors stand before entering.
1771C. Burney Present State of Mus. France & Italy 244 Printed sonnets, in praise of singers and dancers, were thrown from the slips. 1812J. & H. Smith Rej. Addr., Theatr. Alarm-bell (1873) 152 Soldiers will be stationed in the slips. 1837Thackeray Ravenswing iv, She nodded to all her friends on the stage, in the slips. 1855― Newcomes xx, Raddled old women who shudder at the slips.
†6.
a. A division in a pocket-book. Obs.—1
1804E. de Acton Tale without Title I. 69 An elegant pocket-book, the private slip in which was furnished with bank-notes.
†b. slang. (See quot.) Obs.—0
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Slip, the slash pocket in the skirt of a coat behind.
7. A cylindrical iron case, in which wood for making gunpowder is charred.
1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 389/2 In each slip there are two holes, which correspond with similar holes in the retort. Ibid., If of large size, the slip will hold 150 lbs.
III. 8. a. to give (one) the slip, or variants of this: To evade or escape from (a person); to elude, steal off or slip away from unperceived.
1567in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 326 This sayd Faithfull gave them all the slipp, and never appeared afterwards. 1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. Wks. (Grosart) I. 242 Not satisfied wyth the slippe he hath giuen the Vniuersities and Lawes of learning. 1600Holland Livy xxvii. xliv. 661 Hee..gave him the faire slip, & escaped out of his hands. 1675Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 193 There he found means to give them all the slip. 1728Morgan Algiers II. iii. 237 Salem gave his imperious Guests the Slip, and retired among his Arabs in the Country. 1773F. Burney Early Diary July, He said he had rode the whole way,..having given the Colbourns the slip. 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India iv. iii. II. 98 One of the principal officers of finance..had given the slip to his guards. 1852Thackeray Esmond iii. iv, [I] thought to put an end to myself, and so give my woes the slip. 1884G. Moore A Mummer's Wife (1887) 78 [They] discussed how the slip should be given to Mrs. Ede.
transf.1837P. Keith Bot. Lex. 207 If it is to give us the slip, after a sowing or two more, there will be but little chance left of our ever falling in with it again.
†b. Without personal object. Obs. rare.
1596H. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 231, I perceived two of his charge gave the slip. 1600Holland Livy xxxix. xli. 1050 Many of them..made not appearance, but gave the slip.
†c. With punning allusion to slip n.4 Obs.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 50 What counterfeit did I giue you? Mer. The slip, sir, the slip, can you not conceiue? 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Humour ii. v, Let the world thinke me a bad counterfeit, if I cannot giue him the slip, at an instant. c1613Middleton No Wit like Woman's iii. i, You have given me a ninepence here, and I'll give you the slip for't.
d. An act of evading or escaping; spec. in horsemanship (see quot. 1607). rare.
1607Markham Caval. iii. (1617) 59 By giuing him slippes in winding and turning seeke to ouertoile him. Ibid. 75 If hee come vpon your right hand,..hurle your horse roundly about vpon your left hand: this is cald a slippe. 1669Pepys Diary 4 Feb., This morning I made a slip from the Office to White Hall.
9. a. An act of slipping, sliding, or falling down.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 48 At aduantage him at last he tooke, When his foote slipt (that slip he dearely rewd). 1611Cotgr. s.v. Pas, Vn faux pas, a slip, or misse, in footing. a1700Evelyn Diary 7 Feb. 1645, Not without many untoward slipps which did much bruise us. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 471 By..some Slip of my Foot..I fell down. 1816Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 61 A slip, is losing the foot. 1833J. Nyren Cricket. Tutor 43 The long stop..is required to cover many slips from the bat, both to the leg and the off-side. 1876L. Stephen Eng. Thought 18th Cent. II. 376 A fop who has spoilt his fine clothes by a slip in the kennel. 1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 329 Slip, the sliding of riveted joints one over the other to such an extent as to be visible. 1892A. Oldfield Man. Typog. iii, Sometimes a page may be inadvertently squabbled in correcting, by a mere slip of the hand. 1950Sci. News XV. 143 The copper-rich oxide layer..acted as a lubricant between billet and container... This particular type of oxide layer seems to favour slip or slide of the metal under it.
fig.1847Tennyson Princ. v. 191 Bursts of great heart and slips in sensual mire.
b. Prov. (Cf. cup n. 12.)
1850Thackeray Pendennis lxxii, There's many a slip between the cup and the lip! Who knows what may happen. 1861Trollope La Beata II. xv. 131 There are fewer slips between cup and lip in such matters in continental life. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 39 But yet befell a grievous slip Betwixt that fair cup and the lip.
c. The difference between the pitch of a propeller (on a ship or aircraft) and the distance it moves through the ambient medium in one revolution.
1844Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 84/1 The amount of ‘slip’ of the screw in the water..was stated not to exceed 5 per cent. 1877W. H. White Man. Nav. Archit. 525 From 15 to 20 per cent. appears to be a fair average for the slip of paddle-wheels. 1895Mod. Steam Eng. 78 A certain part of the advancing power is lost, which loss is called the slip of the screw. 1910R. W. A. Brewer Art of Aviation viii. 110 A certain amount of slip is necessary in order to obtain thrust. 1919[see pitch n.2 25 e]. 1946H. Rouse Elem. Mech. Fluids ix. 293 At peak efficiency the effective pitch of the propeller is somewhat below the geometric pitch, which results in a so-called ‘slip’ of the blades. 1965C. N. Van Deventer Introd. Gen. Aeronautics viii. 194/1 (caption) A comparison of geometric pitch with working pitch and slip.
d. An act of slipping or stopping; an intermission.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 941 Recurrent slips unmistakeably indicate dilapidation of the heart.
e. The sudden descent of material within a blast furnace. Cf. slipping vbl. n.1 1 c.
1881Encycl. Brit. XIII. 305/2 A ‘slip’ (or sudden jerky motion downwards of a mass of material that had previously more or less ‘scaffolded’). 1911Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LXXXIII. 587 The causes of accidents peculiar to blast-furnaces, especially explosions, slips, and break⁓outs. 1948G. R. Bashforth Manuf. Iron & Steel I. x. 166 The sudden slip of cold solid material into a hotter zone..may result in serious explosions. 1969K. R. Haley in J. H. Strassburger Blast Furnace II. xii. 592 A slip..causes wear on the lining.
f. Movement relative to a solid surface of the fluid immediately adjacent to it.
1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 771/1 While greater surface than is offered by [a swimmer's] hands and feet was always given, with the evident intention of reducing ‘slip’, much resistance took place at the neutral or negative part of the stroke. 1891Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. CLXXXI. 560 From equation (i.) it follows that the effect of slip varies inversely as the radius of the tube. 1937Dodge & Thompson Fluid Mech. xii. 308 The principal reason..is the fact that the hypothesis of zero slip at the boundary of the solid has been abandoned. 1967R. S. Brodkey Phenomena of Fluid Motions vii. 91 If slip at the boundary were allowed, the flow rate would become Q = [etc.]. 1979Nature 22 Mar. 350/2 Circumferential slip is essential if a helical object is to develop thrust in a true liquid, that is, if it is to propel itself using viscous forces.
g. Electr. Engin. The proportion by which the speed of an electric motor falls short of the speed of rotation of the magnetic flux inside it.
1893Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers XXII. 328 The machine has a frequency of 50 and a slip of 6 per cent. 1936Say & Pink Performance & Design of Alternating Current Machines xii. 211 On no load the slip is generally less than..1 per cent. 1976A. R. Daniels Introd. Electr. Machines vii. 122 The rotor is driven at a small slip with respect to the armature rotating m.m.f.
h. Cryst. The movement of one layer of ions over another in a stressed crystal.
1899Proc. R. Soc. LXV. 86 The real character of the lines is apparent when the crystalline constitution of each grain is considered. They are not cracks, but slips along planes of cleavage or gliding planes. 1932Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXXVI. 600 These results are in accord with the theory of deformation by slip. 1966C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials iii. 64 In slip, a restricted number of planes are involved, and a restricted number of directions, so that whole areas of the crystal are affected. 1976M. C. Nutt Metallurgy & Plastics for Engineers v. 70 Since metals deform by slip only on certain planes of atoms, it follows that anything that interferes with the slip process hardens the metal.
i. The turning of one plate of a clutch relative to the other when they are in contact.
1902A. C. Harmsworth Motors & Motor-Driving vi. 95 On the road also, if a clutch does not act, due to slip, a small dose of water puts matters right at once if the mechanical portions are in order. 1925Morris Owner's Man. 22 The more pressure there is on the foot-board the less pressure is available in the clutch, and consequently there is a danger of slip starting. 1976C. Webb Be your own Car Mechanic vii. 96 When a clutch is worn it begins to slip. The slip generates heat and can cause the clutch spring or springs to lose their strength.
j. Aeronaut. A movement of an aircraft that includes a sideways component, esp. downwards towards the centre of curvature of a turn. Cf. skid n. 4 b.
1916Grahame-White & Harper Learning to Fly v. 50 The machine being near the ground, it came into contact with the surface of the aerodrome before the ‘slip’ had time to develop any high rate of speed. 1929Hall & Niles One Man's War 114 Our slip was a slow one. It would be impossible to come out of a fast slip because that was done by putting on the rudder nearest to the direction of the slip. 1930R. Duncan Stunt Flying ix. 79 A slip sideways into a landing is invaluable if it is necessary to land in a small area. 1952[see skid n. 4 b]. 1965C. N. Van Deventer Introd. Gen. Aeronaut. x. 233/2 Information on slip and turn is nearly always wanted at the same time. 1983D. Stinton Design of Aeroplane xiii. 465 A spiral dive..is marked by increasing airspeed and, usually, no slip or skid.
10. a. An error in conduct; esp. an instance of moral fault or transgression.
1601Dent Pathw. Heaven 94 Peters fall, Abrahams slips, Salomons weaknesse, &c. 1659Hammond On Ps. cxxx. iv. 650 His pardoning of the frailties and slips of our lives. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 98 Let Christian's slips before he came hither..be a warning to those that come after. 1711Addison Spect. No. 99 ⁋2 A Slip in a Woman's Honour is irrecoverable. 1752Fielding Amelia iv. v, I hope, not⁓withstanding this fatal slip, I do not appear to you in the light of a profligate. 1833Marryat P. Simple (1863) 306 O'Brien, who then called to mind what a slip of decorum he had been guilty of, immediately rose. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. 364 Eyes watching for any slip which might betray their antagonists to the powers of the law.
b. A mistake or fault in procedure, argument, inference, etc.
1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 42 Beyng not to..get out of so manifest a slip, he returneth the fault vpon me. 1676Marvell Mr. Smirke 43 Only out of the affection I have for him, I would wish him to correct here one slip. 1700Pennsylv. Arch. I. 136 Through that unhappy Slip of neglecting the Register, both Ship and Cargoe were condemned before my Arrival. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. Wks. 1825 III. 12 No advertency is sufficient to guard against slips and contradictions. 1821Scott Kenilw. v, Since the hour that my policy made so perilous a slip, I cannot look at her without fear. 1885Law Reports 29 Chanc. Div. 527 There must be some error, some slip in the decision.
c. A mistake or fault, esp. one of a slight or trivial character, inadvertently made in writing, speaking, etc.; an unintentional error or blunder.
1620Brinsley Virg. Eccl. Direct., Though the slips in this..be very many, the difficultie..may pleade for me. 1639Fuller Holy War ii. i, Such slips are incident to the pens of the best authors. 1680Baxter Answ. Stillingfl. xxxv. 59 It was an ill Slip, to put our Condemning them, for Commending them. 1712Addison Spect. No. 285 ⁋2 A good-natur'd Reader sometimes overlooks a little Slip even in the Grammar or Syntax. 1764Harmer Observ. v. §xiv. 228, I will not however press this, since it seems to be merely a slip of the translators. 1839Hallam Hist. Lit. iii. iv. §159, I have commented upon very few, comparatively, of the slips which occur in his pages on this subject. 1885Law Reports 29 Chanc. Div. 827 An error arising from an accidental slip or omission.
d. In the phrases a slip of the pen, tongue, etc.
1659Cowley Let. to Ormonde 7 Oct., Hopeing that his Majesty..will pardon the slip of that man's pen in one expression. 1677R. Cary Palæol. Chron. ii. i. xx. 153, I am apt to think that the Number..was originally the Transcriber's slip of the Pen. 1725Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1733) 334 In Matters so sacred there is Danger in a Slip of the Tongue. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §3 Things once committed to writing are secure from slips of memory. 1778F. Burney Evelina xliv, It was a slip of the tongue; I did not intend to say such a thing. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 42/1 A casual mistake, a slip of the press. 1849Ld. Mahon in Croker Papers (1884) 31 Dec., This second letter..is caused by the foolish slip of memory in my first. 1874L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) I. vi. 203 A slip of the pen, such as happens to real historians. 1906H. C. Wyld Hist. Study of Mother Tongue iv. 72 He at once perceives the difference [in his pronunciation], and ‘corrects’ the result as a ‘mistake’ or a ‘slip of the tongue’. 1928E. O'Neill Strange Interlude viii. 314 ‘You said ‘Navy’.’.. ‘Slip of the tongue! I meant Gordon.’ 1939G. B. Shaw In Good King Charles's Golden Days i. 13 ‘What did you call the gentleman, Mr Fox?’.. ‘A slip of the tongue, Mistress Basham.’ 1958J. Wain Contenders vii. 151 The Canon was still beating down Robert's attempt to explain away that slip of the tongue. 1975Economist 21 June 31/2 Transcripts of the call, accurate to the last slip of the tongue, have been sent to the magazine Stern.
†11. An abortion. Obs.—1
a1657Harvey Opera (1766) 576 Nostrates false conceptions et slips nominant.
12. a. Geol. A slight fault or dislocation caused by the sinking of one section of the strata.
1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 9 The coal is thrown either up or down by one of those slips. Ibid. 11 In a slip the strata are all cut or broke asunder, frequently in a straight line. 1802–3tr. Pallas's Trav. (1812) I. 13 The projecting heights display, in various slips, precipitated strata of reddish clay. 1855J. Phillips Man. Geol. 203 The district is greatly traversed by faults or ‘slips’. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 226 Slip,..a smooth joint or crack in strata.
b. The slipping or subsiding of a mass of earth, etc., from a higher level; the quantity of earth which has thus fallen; = landslip.
1838F. W. Simms Publ. Wks. Gt. Brit. ii. 10 These slips measuring altogether 4383 cube yards. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. xiv. (1879) 303 The inhabitants thought that when the rains commenced far greater slips would happen. 1883Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 22 Should any slips take place in the cutting during the excavation of the material.
13. Coursing.
a. The act of letting a dog go in order to pursue a deer, hare, etc.; also, the length of the start given to the hare.
16022nd Pt. Ret. fr. Parnass. ii. v. (1886) 108 The Buck broke gallantly: my great Swift being disaduantaged in his slip was at the first behinde. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rur. Sports 211/1 Length of Slip.—In all cases..the hare ought to have from 70 to 100 yards' law. Ibid. 213/2 An awkward or wilfully-bad slip is also guarded against.
†b. A trip or jerk. Obs.—1
1615Markham Country Contentm. i. vii. (1668) 43 If after the turn be given, there shall be neither coat, slip, nor wrench extraordinary.
14. Cricket.
a. One or other of the fielders who stand behind and on the off-side of the wicket to which the ball is bowled.
For the origin of this use cf. quot. 1833 in sense 9 a.
1833J. Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor 44 The situation for the [short] slip is between the wicket-keeper and point of the bat. Ibid. 45 The long slip is generally placed between the short slip and point, and near enough to save the run. 1891W. G. Grace Cricket 216 Box's favourite hit was a smart cut between the slips. 1894Times 25 May 11/2 With the total at 70 Mr. Murdoch played the ball into slip's hands.
b. The ground or position occupied or guarded by these players
sing.1816W. Lambert Cricketer's Guide (ed. 6) iii. 41 In backing up, he [sc. point] should take care to give the man at the slip sufficient room. 1833J. Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor 79 Each usually played in the slip when the other was not present. 1851Lillywhite Guide Cricketers 22 A third man in the slip at times is required. 1883F. M. Peard Contrad. xxi, You should have seen Henderson caught at slip from a ‘skyer’.
plur.1850‘Bat’ Cricket. Man. 101 His mode of cutting the ball into the slips..is..peculiar. 1882Daily Telegr. 19 May, Being caught in the slips when he had put on 29.
c. With qualifying words indicating the various positions in the slips, and the fieldsmen stationed there, as † extra slip, a man who stands outside second slip; third slip; first slip, the slip fielder who stands immediately to the right of the wicket-keeper (for a right-handed batsman); his position; similarly, second (third, etc.) slip, ranged in a line out from the wicket-keeper; leg slip: see leg n. 17 b; † long slip, a fieldsman placed as first slip, but deeper (or wider) in the field; † middle slip, short third man; † short slip = first slip above. Also cover-slip 1 (Obs.).
1816W. Lambert Cricketer's Guide (ed. 6) iii. 41 The Fieldsman that can best be spared is placed between the first Slip and Point. Ibid. 43 The Long Slip to cover the Short Slip. This man must stand..about the same distance from the Wicket as the Long Stop. Ibid. 44 This man should stand the same distance, playing between the Point and second slip. 1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field v. 75 A third man on, and a forward point,..with slow bowling, or an extra slip with fast, made a very strong field. Ibid. x. 193 A third man up, or a middle slip, is at times very killing. Ibid. xi. 222 A third slip can hardly be spared. 1892W. G. Grace in G. A. Hutchison Outdoor Games i. 26 Third man, who is, perhaps, rather a middle-slip, being long-slip placed in close enough to save the run. 1900P. F. Warner Cricket in Many Climes iii. 45, I was missed at extra slip..when I had only made a few runs. 1921― My Cricketing Life xii. 227 Jack was..a short slip of the same class as Tunnicliffe [, etc.]. 1955Times 4 July 3/3 He swung the ball both ways, supported by a hostile, close-set field, Holliday taking two sharp low catches at first slip. 1976Times 23 July 9/4 After adding 43 with Murray, Rowe was out to a tumbling catch at first slip; when Snow took over from Ward, Murray was well caught at second slip; when Willis came on, Holder gave third slip a catch.
IV.
15. a. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1 b) slip-dock; (sense 2 b) slip-apartment; (sense 3) slip-steward; (sense 4 c) slip-bodice, slip-body (Sc.), slip-dress (U.S.); (sense 12 a) slip-cleavage, slip-dyke, slip-trouble, slip-vein; (sense 14) slip-catch, slip-catcher, slip-catching, slip-fielder, slip-fielding, slip fieldsman.
1791Collinson Hist. Somerset I. 40 The hours of bathing are from six to nine.., during which time fires are kept in the *slip apartments.
1897Army & Navy Stores List 1226 Long Cloth *Slip Bodices and Camisoles.
1889Barrie Window in Thrums viii, When he grew out o' it, she made a *slip-body o't for hersel.
1903S. L. Jessop in H. G. Hutchinson Cricket v. 119 This range [of hits for practising catches] will include different kinds of chances, from ‘*slip’ catches to catches in the long field. 1977World of Cricket Monthly June 29/3 Raja took his third wicket through a slip-catch.
1920Lyttelton & Wilson in P. F. Warner Cricket vii. 268 As a *slip catcher he was worthy to rank with R. E. and G. N. Foster. 1963Times 17 Apr. 3/2 Downside are looking for proficient slip-catchers to give the required support to R. F. Thompson, a fast bowler, for whom they have high regard.
1950W. Hammond Cricketers' School vi. 64 His *slip-catching is first-rate.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 226 *Slip cleavage, the cleat of the coal running in planes parallel with slips.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2212/1 *Slip⁓dock,..a dock whose floor slopes toward the water [etc.].
1964Glamour May 149 Andrea wears a bare blue linen *slip-dress.
1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 32 There are indeed some dykes which throw the coal, etc. a little off the former level, and these I will, for distinction's sake, call *slip dykes.
1912P. F. Warner Eng. v. Australia i. 2 The Committee..invited George Gunn, Woolley, and Mead, *slip-fielders all of them. 1963Times 13 June 3/5 The slip fielder is Titmus.
1906A. E. Knight Complete Cricketer iv. 153 The possibilities of *slip fielding are so very great. 1976Times Lit. Suppl. 16 July 896/5 There are a number of mistakes of fact (the editors' slip-fielding is not infallible).
1906A. E. Knight Complete Cricketer iv. 153 In degree it is true of all fieldsmen, yet it is more true of *slip fieldsmen, that a position in the field is largely what the individual fieldsman cares to make it. 1920G. L. Jessop in P. F. Warner Cricket iv. 167 The importance of a slip fieldsman is only second to that of a wicket-keeper.
1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rur. Sports 203/2 The *Slip-Steward, if there is one, regulates the proceedings of the dogs at the slips, and sees that the next brace is ready. 1887H. W. Daly Digging & Squatting 133 There was a coursing club, of which my husband was slip-steward.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 227 *Slip-trouble.
1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 270 The *slip veins are seldom wider above than below, but are generally narrower.
b. Special Combinations. slip angle, (a) a parameter of a screw propeller (see quots. 1878, 1902); (b) Motoring, (see quot. 19592); slip band, a slip line, or a cluster of such lines; slip face, the steepest face of a sand dune, down which sand slips; slip flow, in fluid dynamics, a mode of flow of a gas over a surface, the gas in contact with the surface having a definite velocity relative to it; slip line, (a) a fine line visible on a polished crystalline surface where it is cut by a slip plane; (b) a line in a solid whose tangent at any point is one of the shear directions at that point; slip plane, a plane along which slip occurs in a crystal; slip ratio, the ratio of the slip of a propeller to its pitch.
1878W. Froude in Trans. Inst. Naval Architects XIX. 50 The difference between the direction of the plane itself..and the direction of its motion through the water..may be called the *slip angle. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 587/1 The slip angle (obliquity of surface to the line of its motion) ought always to have the same value (proportional to the square root of the coefficient of friction). 1936,1959[see oversteer v.]. 1959Manch. Guardian 27 July 2/3 The slip angle is the difference between the direction in which the wheels are pointing and the actual direction in which the car travels.
1899Ewing & Rosenhain in Proc. R. Soc. LXV. 87 Rotation of the stage to which the strained specimen is fixed makes the bands on one or another of the grains flash out successively, with kaleidoscopic effect. In what follows we shall speak of these lines as *slip bands. 1976C. Bradshaw Metallurgy for Schools vi. 60 (caption) Photomicrograph showing slip bands formed on the surface of brass strip that has been stretched.
1941R. A. Bagnold Physics of Blown Sand & Desert Dunes xiv. 224 The seif dune differs more markedly from the barchan in that its *slip-face, instead of running mainly transverse to the prevailing wind, runs parallel with it. 1976Nature 22 July 284/2 The beetles either burrowed into dune slipfaces when returned or remained active.
1946Hsue-Shen Tsien in Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. XIII. 654/2 It was found that gas no longer sticks to the surface but slips over the surface with a definite velocity... This type of flow can be called the *slip flow. 1978Jrnl. Fluid Mech. LXXXV. 731 (heading) Slip flow past a tangential flat plate at low Reynolds numbers.
1900Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. CXCIII. 369 In gold or copper, it is very usual to find, on examining a strained specimen that one portion of a grain is covered with simple *slip lines. 1931Nádai & Wahl Plasticity xvii. 110 (caption) Helical slip lines on polished marble cylinder after compression. 1950Sci. News XV. Plate 16 (caption) Slip-lines in pure zinc after exposure to 50 thermal cycles between 30°C and 150°C (× 500). 1973Johnson & Mellor Engin. Plasticity xii. 383 In order to determine the load necessary for a particular plastic forming operation, we must first of all obtain the slip-line field pattern. 1976M. C. Nutt Metallurgy & Plastics for Engineers v. 66 In Fig. 5–2 the intersection of individual slip planes with the polished surface is observed, thus forming slip lines.
1925Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXII. 87 The authors consider that the lowest value for tensile strength in an iron crystal will be obtained when two *slip planes of the crystal make angles of 45° to the axis of stress. 1975Nature 10 Apr. 489/1 Granular xenoliths..in which olivine and pyroxene show various strain effects, including undulose extinction.., slip-planes, and subgrain development.
1878Trans. Inst. Naval Architects XIX. 50 The area which will drive the ship with a given *slip ratio, is directly as the ship's resistance and is inversely as the square of her speed. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXVIII. 587/2 In combining the results from the four propellers great assistance was derived from the discovery that the curves expressing the variation of efficiency with slip-ratio had a close similarity. 1920A. Fage Airscrews vi. 70 In the writer's opinion the notion of slip is superfluous; and the introduction of a slip-ratio as a performance parameter quite unnecessary.
Add:[II.] [4.] g. More fully, gun slip. A case or holder for carrying a gun.
1977Tackle & Guns Dec. 3/1 (Advt.), Ranger economy gun slip. 1981Sporting Gun Aug. 30/1 Features of the slip are a full length heavy duty nylon zip, sturdy carrying handle and snap-on shoulder strap. 1986Air Gunner Sept. 37/2 The fleece-lined gun slip has a shoulder strap and two carrying handles. 1987M. Paulet Shooting from Scratch iv. 83 Don't put a wet gun into a dry slip. Wipe it over first.
▪ IV. † slip, n.4 Obs.
[Of obscure origin; perh. a special use of prec. or of n.2]
A counterfeit coin.
1592Greene Disput. Wks. (Grosart) X. 260 He went and got him a certaine slips, which are counterfeyt peeces of mony being brasse, and couered ouer with siluer, which the common people call slips. 1607R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of Wonders 115 A counterfet peece of gold and a false peece of siluer (which we call a slip). 1612J. Davies (Heref.) Muse's Sacr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 5/2 So, their Folly flies abroad the World, like Slips, that shame their Mint. 1624Sanderson Serm. I. 111 To take a slip for a currant piece, or brass for silver.
attrib.1618T. Adams Fool & his Sport Wks. 1861 I. 247 This is the worldling's folly, rather to take a piece of slip-coin in hand than to trust God for the invaluable mass of glory.
transf.1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. 40 Aie me, she was but a counterfet slip. 1598E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 43 She, which thee deceaues With copper guilt is but a slip. 1608Machin Dumb Knight v. i, An't please your majesty, we have brought you here a slip, a piece of false coin.
b. In phr. to nail up for a slip, with reference to the exposure of spurious coin (cf. nail v. 1 d). Also transf.
1594Lyly Mother Bombie ii. i, I shall goe for siluer though, when you shall bee nailed vp for slips. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iii, Your nose is a copper nose, and must be nail'd up for a slip. a1634Austin Medit. (1635) 108 But (here) they Naile him up, for a Slippe (a Brasen Counterfeit;) one, that did but say hee was a King.
c. With punning allusion to slip n.3 8.
1618in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) I. 32 Hee was desirous to ride before to showe his horse, which indeed was only to pay them with a slippe, for from that daie to this wee never heard more of him.
▪ V. † slip, n.5 Obs.
In 7 slipp, 8 slippe.
[app. a. older Flem. slip (Kilian), = MLG. slip, G. schliff, † sliff, related to Flem. and Du. slijpen to sharpen, polish, slipe v.1]
(See quots.)
1667Sir W. Petty in Sprat Hist. Roy. Soc. 296 The Filings of Steel, and such small particles of Edge-tools as are worn away upon the Grindstone, commonly called Slipp, is used to the same purpose in dying of Silks. 1791Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing II. ii. i. 13 Some dyers..use..the powder found in the troughs of cutlers' grindstones. [Note.] This is known among our workmen by the name of slippe.
▪ VI. slip, v.1|slɪp|
Also 4–7 slyppe, slipp, 5–7 slippe; 5 slipe, 5–6 slype.
[prob. ad. MLG. slippen (LG., Du., Flem. slippen, G. schlippen), = OHG. slipfan (MHG. slipfen, G. dial. schlipfen) to slip, slide, glide, etc., related to the ON. strong verb sleppa (Norw. and Icel. sleppa; in Sw. slippa and Da. slippe the vowel has been influenced by LG). The stem slip- appears in OE. in the adj. slipor: see slipper a.]
I. Intransitive senses. (See also let v.1 28.)
*
1. To escape, get away, make off. rare.
a1300Cursor M. 4001 If þou wil, sal i slip And fal noght in his hand grip. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1785 Segges slepande were slayne er þay slyppe myȝt. 1572Satir. P. Reform. xxxvi. 64 Lyndsay..tuik þair geir, and luit thame selfis slip. 1621H. Elsing Lords' Deb. (Camden) App. 131 A motion that Fowles should be closely keept in, otherwise it is thought hee will slipp. 1866J. E. Brogden Prov. Lincs., Slip, to run away.
2. To pass or go lightly or quietly; to move quickly and softly, without attracting notice; to glide or steal. Used with various advs. and preps.
In some cases the prominent idea is that of escape; more usually it is that of quick, easy motion.
a. With away, off, out; from, out of.
c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5931 Gif þir theues away slipp, Ȝe haue grete los parfay. 1530Palsgr. 721/2 Who wolde ever have thought that a thefe coulde have slypped out here. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 64 Hold you my duitye so sclender, Too slip from Troytowne. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 44 There is no way to get out of the Church, except they slip out of the doores. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 216 When slipping from thy Mothers eye thou went'st Alone into the Temple. 1709Prior Hans Carvel 24 So in a Morning..[she] Slipt sometimes out to Mrs. Thody's. 1773Life N. Frowde 44, I took that opportunity to slip away. c1810W. Hickey Mem. (1960) xix. 309, I..might slip off sans cérémonie and proceed to join the Oxfordshire party. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xlix, Some say he's slipped off, to join his friend abroad. 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native v. viii, So I came downstairs without any noise and slipped out. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 31 At the end of two or three hours..most of those present had slipped away for luncheon.
transf.1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. Man. iii. ii. 324 These Nerves slip out of the Marrow about the Saddle of Sphœnoides.
fig.1872W. D. Howells Wedding Journ. 279 You must slip out of it some way.
b. With by, past, through, etc. Also in fig. contexts.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 985 Þay slypped bi & syȝe hir not þat wern hir samen feres. a1591H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 23 In the Spanish inquisition the protestants are examined, but the papists slip by. 1705Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. iii. Pain 16 That they should slip through Torture without Pain. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. v. 174 There might be less danger of any of the enemy's ships slipping by unobserved. 1831Scott Cast. Dang. xix, Bertram slipped clear of his English friend. 1874L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) II. x. 347 Some idiot..who has somehow managed to slip past us in the race of life.
transf.1875Daily Tel. 4 Aug. (Cassell), There is always a certain proportion of Bills which may be said to slip through both Houses.
c. With in, into. Also fig., and in slang use to slip into, to give (one) a good blow or beating.
c1400Destr. Troy 4703 Þai..Let sailes doune slide, slippit into botes. 1535Coverdale Joel ii. 9 They shal clymme vp vpon the houses, & slyppe in at the wyndowes like a thefe. 1592Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. iii, Even now as I came home, he slipt me in. 1697Dryden Virgil, Life (1721) I. 61 When People crouded to see him, he would slip into the next Shop..to avoid them. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1727) 59 He would slip into the cellar, and gauge the casks. 1786F. Burney Diary 25 July, I heard the King's voice. I slipped into my room, but he saw me. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxvi, The strangers had slipped in before us. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. viii. 65 I'll have a chair for you... You can slip into it and say nothing to nobody. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. li. 292 If the voters are apathetic and let a bad man slip in.
transf.1643Browne Relig. Med. i. §17 When unexpected accidents slip in, and unthought of occurrences intervene. 1824Landor Imag. Conv. (1846) II. 93 Curiosity slips in among you before the passions are awake. 1874H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. iii. §2. 185 Huge assumptions have been allowed to slip into the process of the argument, and to vitiate the proof.
slang.1850Smedley F. Fairlegh (1894) 3 When you know how to use your fists,..slip into him. 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Conscience ii. xi, If you would oblige us all by slipping into Cabbage with a stick for half a minute.
d. With back, home, over, to, etc.
1513Douglas æneid ix. viii. 31 The weyngit messengeir..slippand come to thy moder. 1560J. Daus Sleidane's Comm. 270 They serued vnwyllyngly, and..forsakyng their enseignes, slyppe home euery man. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 101 If the formost be weary, then slippeth he back to rest his head upon the hindmost. 1664W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 315 You will hear of Lord Chamberlain from Kimbolton, who slipped thither last week. a1700Evelyn Diary 3 June 1666, So having been much wearied with my journey, I slipp'd home. 1781Cowper Retirem. 436 Then swift descending..[he] Slips to his hammock. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. iv. vi, [He] privily..slips over to the Townhall to whisper a word. 1863B. Taylor H. Thurston i. 17 Mrs. Waldo slipped to the door and peeped in. 1865J. Hatton Bitter Sweets iii, I'll slip up with some bread and milk for you.
fig.1859Tennyson Guinevere 377 Her memory..Went slipping back upon the golden days.
3.
†a. With on or upon: To fall or sink into (sleep). Cf. slide v. 6 a. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 186 He..Slypped vpon a sloumbe slepe. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 244 As al were slypped vpon slepe, so slaked hor lotez. c1400Destr. Troy 2378 Sleghly on slepe I slypped be-lyue.
b. To enter gradually or inadvertently into a theme, digression, opinion, etc.
1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 206, I am not slipt into that Anabaptisticall conceit and tenet..that all warres were utterly unlawfull under the Gospel. 1685Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. iv. 119, I perceive I have slipped into a some⁓what long digression.
c. To pass into a certain state. Also with off.
1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 6 Which at a touch of light..Slipt into ashes, and was found no more. 1888‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. ii, She began to cry weakly, and at last slipped off into a dead faint.
4. To pass out of, escape from, the mind, memory, etc. Also without const.
a1340Hampole Ps. cxviii. 93 It may noght slip out of my mynde. c1430Hoccleve Minor Poems xviii. 46 Let me nat slippe out of thy remembrance. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 21 It will neuer let it sincke or slip out of minde. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 28 If I could haue remembred a guilt counterfeit, thou would'st not haue slipt out of my contemplation. 1676Ray Corresp. (1848) 125 The experiments..were quite slipt out of my memory. 1724Watts Logic i. v. (1726) 73 The Mind is ready to let many of them slip, unless some Pains and Labour be taken to fix them upon the Memory. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxix, The idea of her mother's presence seemed to have slipped from the unhappy girl's recollection. 1892J. Tait Mind in Matter 300 Important truths had slipped out of the consciousness of the Church.
5. To break or escape from a person, the tongue, lips, etc.
c1400Destr. Troy 3891 Ector..warpit neuer worde of wrang with his mowthe. Ne sagh þat was vnsemond, slipped hym fro. 1500–20Dunbar Poems liii. 41 Ane blast of wind soun fra hir slippis. 1607Shakes. Timon i. i. 20 Pain. You are rapt sir, in some worke, some Dedication... Poet. A thing slipt idlely from me. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Polit. 39 Hasty rash words slip often from us inconsiderately. 1674Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 215 This last clause sure slipped from him unawares. 1773Life N. Frowde 42 The reply..slipp'd as glibly from my Tongue, as if in reality I had known no other [name]. 1859Tennyson Marr. Geraint 446, I will not let his name Slip from my lips if I can help it. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xv, Lest..he should let anything slip that might give a clue to the place or people.
b. To leak out, become known.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxiii, When one side or the other had written any particularly spicy despatch, news of it was sure to slip out. 1942T. Bailey Pink Camellia xxiv. 180, I didn't mean it, darling. It just slipped out. 1979Homes & Gardens June 77/2, I always know if he's worried but he never tells me the details straight out. It sometimes slips out in conversation when the crisis is over and I think, Oh, that's what it was about.
6. Of time: To go by quickly or imperceptibly; to pass unmarked; to run. Chiefly with advs., as along, away, by.
1564–78W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 19 By little and little tyme doth slip awaie. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 48, I neuer thought how some of that time is slipt away. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 190 Perceiving the day slipp'd away without any hope of relief. 1730T. Boston Mem. x. 312 The season for publishing it is slipt. 1793Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 93 Time slipped along. 1848Dickens Dombey xv, As time was slipping by, and he had none to lose, he felt that he must act. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 468 Trying his truth..Till half-another year had slipt away.
7. a. To pass over (a subject or matter) without adequate attention or notice; to neglect, overlook.
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 439 Last of all I will not slip ouer this difference, although it bee of little weight. a1591H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 70 That no man's matters should slightly be slipped over. 1676Hale Contempl. ii. Medit. Lord's Pr. 138 Slipping over it in thy Prayer without a particular animadversion upon it. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §300 The circumstance might not have been slipped over, without my knowledge.
b. To progress or travel across, down, over, a stretch of ground, etc., quickly.
1864Tennyson En. Ard. 527 Yet unvext She slipt across the summer of the world. 1874L. Stephen Hours Libr. (1892) I. viii. 290 No man seems on the whole to have slipped down the stream of life more smoothly. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 188 A ten-mile stage..having been slipped over.
**
8. Of the foot: = slide v. 8 b.
a1340Hampole Ps., Comm. Canticles 520, I sall ȝeld þaim.. in tyme..þat þaire fote slipp. 1535Coverdale Ps. xvi. 5 Ordre thou my goynges in thy pathes, that my fote steppes slippe not. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 48 His foote slipt (that slip he dearely rewd). 1611Cotgr. s.v. Glisser, Better the foot slip then the tongue trip. 1827Willis Saturday Aft. 23 My feet slip up on the seedy floor. 1864Law Times Rep. X. 719/2 His foot slipped and he fell into the street.
b. To slide or glide, esp. on a smooth or slippery surface; to lose one's foothold; = slide v. 8. Also in fig. context.
1530Palsgr. 721/2 Syt nat there, I rede you, leste you slyppe downe or you beware. a1550Freiris Berwik 582 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 304, I saw him slip..Doun our the stair. a1618J. Davies Wit's Pilgr. i. ii, From it (being moist, and slippie) she doth slipp To thy faire Teeth. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1638) 59 Suddenly he slipt downe forty steps or degrees. 1779E. Clark Poems 193 Our wife yence slippit i' this sliddry gate. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. iii, ‘Hadn't you better come into the carriage,..Mr. Preston?’.. ‘Oh, I'm sure I'll slip out, ma'm,’ says I. c1850Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 581 As this spot was rather steep, and the ground moist.., he slipped down.
fig.1538Starkey England ii. i. 167 He folowyth not the ordynance of God, but..blyndyd wyth ignorance, flythe from hyt and slyppyth from hys owne dygnyte. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 63 He slippeth down presently into a dirtie comparison of a dutch Mule and an english mare.
c. To fall into mistake, fault, or error; to err, † to sin. Also with into (error, etc.).
(a)c1340Hampole Psalter xxxviii. 1 Oure tonge..lightly..slippis, as we doe when we ga in skliþer way. 1435Misyn Fire of Love 83 It wer meruayl if he to so grete wrongis suld slype. 1570T. Norton tr. Nowel's Catech. 64 b, There liueth no mortall man that doth not oft slippe in doing his dutie. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 477, I am sorry, one so learned, and so wise,..Should slip so grosselie. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 34 Great Masters..slip sometimes unawares. 1658Cromwell Sp. 20 Jan. (Carlyle), Therefore it is that men yet slip, and engage themselves against God. a1702J. Pomfret Love Triumphant 145 The best may slip, and the most cautious fall. 1891Pall Mall G. 17 Jan. 4/2 Either Mr. Goldwin Smith's memory has slipped, or he has been..misreported.
(b)1610Holland Camden's Brit. 504, I may seeme to slip into an errour. 1777Tyrwhitt in Chatterton's Rowley Poems App. 321 It might seem invidious to point out living writers..who have slipped into the same mistake.
d. orig. U.S. With up: To fail; to make a mistake. Freq. const. on.
1855Jrnl. Discourses II. 67/2 Some men think the way they are going to be saviors is to get as many wives as they can, and save them; now, they may slip up on that. 1856B. Harte Dow's Flat iii, He slipped up somehow On each thing thet he struck. 1866Weekly New Mexican 14 July 2/1 The knowledge that he has ‘slipped up’ and been exposed is more than sufficient punishment for the offense. 1888Cent. Mag. June 279/1 Slip up in my vernacular! How could I? I talked it when I was a boy with the other boys. 1923C. J. Dutton Shadow on Glass xviii. 247 All of us slipped up. 1940J. Reith Diary 31 Jan. (1975) v. 240, I wish I had been City member instead of Southampton. I slipped up on that. 1959J. Verney Friday's Tunnel viii. 80, I couldn't help feeling that Daddy had slipped up pretty badly this time. 1981A. Morice Men in her Death x. 108 Somewhere along the line I had slipped up.
e. Of a person: to fall away from a standard (in behaviour or achievement); to deteriorate; to lose one's command of things. Chiefly as pres. pple. colloq.
[1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara iii. 286 You are fencing, Euripides. You are weakening: your grip is slipping. 1914‘High Jinks, Jr.’ Choice Slang 18 Slipping, failing, ‘losing out’, ‘going under’.] 1930Publishers' Weekly 22 Feb. 933/2, I must be slipping for I turned in a measly 78 on No. 4 in the Lenz-Rendel book. 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xxvii. 242 I'm behaving very badly to-night, aren't I? I seem to be slipping. 1962‘E. Ferrars’ Busy Body ix. 104 He'd been slipping lately, drinking too much and boasting. 1976H. MacInnes Agent in Place xiii. 137 The journalist was the first to know he was slipping; next his editors; and then the public. End of a career.
9. To move out of place with an easy sliding motion; to fail to hold or stick; to slide. to slip off the hooks: see hook n.1 15 e.
1382Wyclif Deut. xix. 5 The yren, slipt of fro the haft, smytith his freend. 1530Palsgr. 721/2, I slyppe, as a thyng dothe that is thought to be tyed and holdeth nat faste, je me lasche. Ibid., I can take no holde upon hym, my handes slyppeth so. 1641Baker Chron. 173 A Garter..slipping off in a Dance, King Edward stooped and tooke it up. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. ii. 53 Fasten the Scale of Equal Parts, and the Scale to be made together, so as they may not slip. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 172 The Bark will be prevented slipping up, as it is very apt to do.., when the Sticks or Cuttings are forced into the Ground of themselves. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 605 It should have grooves crossing each other..to prevent the bones from slipping aside. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 157 My axe slipped out of my hand, and slid..away from me. Ibid. ii. iv. 249 The snow upon steep mountain-sides frequently slips and rolls down in avalanches. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxix, The sudden movement uncovered the letters, which slipped down and strewed the carpet.
b. To enter or fall into by slipping or losing hold.
1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 157 Lest with the Grain the edge of the Adz should slip too deep into the Board. 1807P. Gass Jrnl. 22 A place where the bank has slipped into the river.
c. intr. and trans. Aeronaut. = side-slip v. b.
1911Aero July (Suppl.) 2/2 The extra weight caused the machine to slide down sideways when steeply banked round the end corner. The Blériot slipped downward. 1930R. Duncan Stunt Flying iii. 15 Side-slipping..enables the machine to be put down in a far shorter space than would be possible through a normal glide, forward speed being reduced to a minimum by slipping the air⁓plane sideways down to within a few feet of the ground. 1941Pope & Otis Elem. Aeronaut. iii. 19 If the banking is insufficient for such a turn, the plane will skid, and if the banking is too great, the plane will slip toward the inside of the curve. 1952A. Y. Bramble Air-plane Flight xiii. 199 Slipping may be used deliberately with useful effect, providing the air-plane is of the type that may be ‘slipped’. 1965[see skid v.1 3 c].
10. To glide or pass easily out of (or from) one's hand or grasp, through (or between) one's fingers , etc., so as to escape or be lost. In later use chiefly transf.
1390Gower Conf. II. 72 In liknesse of an Eddre he slipte Out of his hond, and forth he skipte. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 100 They slypped owte of their handes. c1622Fletcher Prophetess iii. ii, Hold her fast, She'll slip thorow your fingers like an Eel else. 1668Hopkins Serm. Vanity (1685) 85 All our treasures are like quicksilver, which strangely slips between our fingers, when we think we hold it fastest. 1746Rep. Conduct of Sir J. Cope 110 How this Person..slip'd out of his Hands. a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) I. 132 Wealth by various means slips from the possessor's hands. 1807W. Irving Salmagundi (1824) 125 So, between them, the lady generally slipped through their fingers. 1853James Agnes Sorel (1860) I. 19 To exercise the authority in the land which slips from the grasp of the monarch. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xcviii. 379 Not only has the direction of politics slipped in great measure from their hands [etc.]. 1915W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xlvii. 236 He was mad to have let such an adventure slip through his fingers. 1970J. A. T. Robinson Christian Freedom in Permissive Society p. ix, Try to net it [sc. the concept of freedom] in the categories of discursive knowledge,..it slips through your fingers, and you end up..by concluding that it does not exist.
b. Similarly with away, or without const.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Passer, Good lucke vnheeded quickly slips away. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. vii. Wks. 1813 I. 503 Elizabeth did not suffer such a favourable opportunity to slip. 1780Cowper Progr. Error 22 The rhet'ric they display Shines as it runs, but, grasp'd at, slips away.
c. to slip through the net: to evade detection or apprehension; to escape someone's vigilance; to be overlooked.
1902G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession p. xviii, Nothing can really shake the confidence of the public in the Lord Chamberlain's department except a remorseless and unbowdlerized narration of the licentious fictions which slip through its net. 1970Times 21 Feb. 7/5 All those in the ‘know’ in the underworld..maintain that it was a man who was never on trial but who slipped through the net. 1977M. Drabble Ice Age i. 67 The real poor..were better off than they would have been in the thirties, for Britain is, after all, a welfare state, and not many slip through its net.
11. To allow oneself to drop or fall with an easy, gliding motion; to slide down.
1470–85Malory Arthur ix. xl. 404 So whanne syr Dynas wente oute on huntynge she slypped doune by a tuell. 1847Tennyson Princ. vii. 172 Now folds the lily all her sweetness up, And slips into the bosom of the lake. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 633 To slip by the board, to slip down by the ship's side.
12. Of rivers, etc.: To run smoothly or gently; to flow, glide; to pass into the sea.
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 189 It..falleth..to Rotherbridge,..from whence it soon after slippeth into the sea. 1598Marlowe Ovid's Elegies ii. xiii, Swift Nile in his large channell slipping. 1784Cowper Task i. 192 The softer voice..of rills that slip Through the cleft rock. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 629 The silent water slipping from the hills. 1885Stevenson Child's Garden, Foreign Lands iv, To where the grown-up river slips Into the sea among the ships.
transf.1748Thomson Castle Indol. i. xx, Yet they [sc. vibrations] slipt along In silent ease.
13. a. To get out of or into a garment, etc., in an easy or hurried manner.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 106 He schewre his fed⁓dreme that was schene, And slippit owt of it full clene. 1609Field Woman is a Weathercock ii. i, Then my lord (like a snake) casts a suit every quarter which I slip into. 1857Ld. Dufferin Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 206 Slipping into a pair of fur boots. 1893Keith 'Lisbeth II. ii, He's slipping into a clean shirt as fast as he can.
b. To slide in or into a socket, etc.
1815Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) III. xii. 401 The thistle..is entirely detached, in working, from the figure, and slips into a socket. 1859Handbk. Turning 75 A groove, in which one end of the tool slide..slips and is firmly fixed..by a nut underneath.
14. To move easily and smoothly.
1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 179 So oft as the Workman has occasion to oyl the Centers of his Work, to make his Work slip about the easier. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. I 3, The cord wheel slipping within its encircling cord.
b. To admit of being taken off, or put on, by a slipping process.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 63 Before you paste your Paper on the form, first Tallow him, so will the Canvas and Paper slip off without starting or tearing. 1747–96H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 227 You must boil your beans so that the skin will slip off. 1820Scott Monast. x, I am grown somewhat fatter.., and my leathern coat slips not on so soon as it was wont.
c. Of bark: To peel off.
1788Deane in M. Cutler's Life, etc. (1888) I. 388, I have had chairs bottomed with the rind [of basswood], which will slip finely in June. 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at Home 61 When the sap is rising, the bark of the smaller shoots of the lime-tree ‘slips’ easily.
II. Transitive senses.
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15. To cause to move with a sliding motion; to draw or pull in this manner.
In quot. 1850 prob. suggested by Du. slepen.
1513Douglas æneid vii. vii. 28 Full slyde scho slyppis hir membris our allquhayr. 1633Herbert Temple, Praise vi, After thou hadst slipt a drop From thy right eye. 1688Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i. s.v. Derober, To slip beans out of their skins. a1700Evelyn Diary 11 June 1652, It was long before I could slip the cord over my wrists to my thumb. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 187 Their Bark must never be slip'd up at their putting into the Earth. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike vii. 77 Make every one knock that wants to come in. If they won't obey,..slip the bolt. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (ed. 2) I. 149, I..despatched men with a span or team of oxen to slip the wildebeest to camp. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkback 161 One of the men slipped a brand from a bundle of wood.
fig.1795Burke Regic. Peace iv. (1892) 268 Having therefore slipped the persons, with whom we are to treat, out of view.
b. With off or on. (Cf. 2.) Also refl.
1662Boyle Spring of Air 114 Since..such Surfaces are as easily slipt of, and extended in the end of the depression as in the beginning. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 188 On this Crook is slipt the Noose of a Leather Thong. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 197 A Cinnamon-Tree..bears none but its Bark, which Slips itself off every Year. 1778Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekeeper 25 Take the cloth carefully off, and slip it on to your dish. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. vi, On the President's chair [can] be slipped this cover of velvet. 1885Law Reports 15 Q. B. Div. 360 The belts..could be slipped off the drum of the shaft..at pleasure.
c. Sc. To go or take (one's way) in a quick and quiet manner. With advb. compl.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxviii, If I were to..slip my ways hame again. ― Rob Roy xxii, I..came slipping my ways here to see what can be dune anent your affairs.
d. Motoring. to slip (in) the clutch, to let in, release the clutch (clutch n.1 6 a), slightly or momentarily.
1904A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist 214 When the brake lever is in the ‘on’ position, it is impossible to start the car by slipping in the clutch until it has been released. 1912Motor Man. 73 The metal clutch..can be ‘slipped’ to any extent without affecting the surface of the discs. 1965Priestley & Wisdom Good Driving ix. 63 It is permissible [in reversing] to slip (feather) the clutch a little so as to maintain an even rate of travel. 1972Hillier & Pittuck Fundamentals of Motor Vehicle Technol. 20 Most modern engines have a speed range from about 400 revolutions per minute..unless the clutch is partly disconnected or slipped.
16. a. To strip or take off (a garment, etc.); to cast (the skin, etc.). Occas. with advs., as down, off. Also in fig. context.
1535Lyndesay Satire 2172 Slip doun ȝour hois. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1637) 454 As a man slippeth off his clothes,..so we must slip off all our sins. 1603Dekker Whore Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 244 The snake slips off his skinne. 1673Humours Town 45 They ought now, like the Serpent, to slip their Skin. 1727Boyer Dict. Royal ii, To slip (or pull) off one's Shoes, tirer ses Souliers. 1842Tennyson Talking Oak 188 When that, which breathes within the leaf, Could slip its bark and walk. 1901J. Watson Life Master ix. 87 He slips his past and puts on a new shape.
b. To put on (an article of apparel) hastily or carelessly.
1590Lodge Rosalind (1592) H iij, With that she slipt on her peticoat, and start vp. c1660Roxb. Ball. (1886) VI. 213 Come slip on your slippers, and trip down the stairs. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To slip his Clothes on, s'habiller. 1773Life N. Frowde 92, I jumped out of Bed, slipp'd my Coat on, and..called the Chamberlain. 1786F. Burney Diary 17 July, I was obliged to slip on my morning gown,..and run away as fast as possible. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. vii, Porteous might, however, have eluded the fury,..had he thought of slipping on some disguise. 1856Kane Arctic Expl. II. ix. 95 The watch-officer slips on his bear-skin.
17. To withdraw (one's head or neck) out of or from a collar, etc. Also fig. (cf. collar n. 8).
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxv. 772 Albeit we..would slippe our heades out of the coler seeking to shift off y⊇ matter. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 112 My burthen'd yoke, From which, euen heere I slip my wearied head. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To slip his Neck out of the Collar.
18. To insert or introduce gently or surreptitiously. Const. in, into.
1688Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i. s.v. Couler, To slip mony into his pocket. 1713Arbuthnot John Bull (1727) 76 He had tried to slip a powder into her drink. 1748H. Ellis Voy. Hudson's Bay 136 When they want to lay their Child out of their Arms, they slip it into one of their Boots. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxi. 219 The choicest peach or orange was slipped into his pocket to give to her when he came back. 1888‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. iii, He took the loose cushion..and slipped it under Lassie's head.
transf.1837[Miss Maitland] Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 155 A ― quoted all the old divines, and I slipped in texts. 1900H. Lawson On Track 55 The time when he slipped three leaden pills into ‘Blue Shirt’ for winking at a new chum behind his..back.
b. Cards. To palm (a card); † absol., to cheat in this manner in playing. to slip the cut (see quot. 1879).
1760Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 239, I am..an adept in their science, can slip, shuffle, cog, or cut with the best of 'em. 1807Sporting Mag. XXIX. 197 Few could more dextrously slip a card or cog a die. 1836in Curtees Rep. Cases Eccl. Courts I. 414 note, He..detected him slipping the king, commonly called ‘palming’, for the purpose of cheating.. him. 1879Sporting Exam. 19 Aug. 262 The usual method of slipping the cut is to pick up with your right hand the cards removed from the top of the pack, and place them in the open palm of your left hand [etc.].
c. To give quietly or slyly.
1841S. Hawkins Poems V. 25 (E.D.D.), The cannie lass whiles..slips me down a bit o' bread. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. x. v. III. 256 The Custom-house people..were pacified by slipping them a ducat. 1922E. O'Neill Hairy Ape vii. 78 Man in de Moon, yuh look so wise, gimme de answer, huh? Slip me de inside dope. 1935[see ducat 2 b]. 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas xix. 210 You tell me..and I'll slip you that money you wanted. 1952‘N. Shute’ Far Country ix. 257 Jim must have known the man was a boozer, and he might have thought some of his mates would try to slip him something. 1968P. H. Newby Something to answer For iii. 88 If it's money you want, give me a little time, I can slip you a few hundred. 1978S. Brill Teamsters iv. 133 At one lunch, he testified, he slipped Provenzano $1,500.
d. In slang phr. to slip (something) over (on) (someone), to take advantage of someone by trickery, to hoodwink; to slip a fast one over on (someone) = to pull or put over a fast one (see fast a. 11).
1912C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch iii. 63, I attempted to slip a fast one over on Cooley and got the ball a little too high. 1927Daily Tel. 29 Mar. 10/7 If one only had the nerve and audacity one could ‘slip it over’ the German every time. 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas v. 63 Can you imagine my lawyer letting them slip that over! 1960‘B. McCorquodale’ Price is Love iii. 53 It was something he really wanted to know and was trying to slip it over on her unexpectedly.
19. To cause to slip or lose hold; esp. to undo (a knot) in this way. Also in fig. context.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 156 The bonds of heauen are slipt, dissolu'd, and loos'd. 1674Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 74 Should but any one pin of it be misdriven, or the running of its least wheel slipt or jostled. 1761Sterne Tr. Shandy iii. x, Tight, hard knots,..in which there is no quibbling provision made..to get them slipped and undone by. 1818Scott Rob Roy iii, The manner in which my father slipt a knot, usually esteemed the strongest which binds society together. 1894Hall Caine Manxman v. v, ‘Kate's knot,’ thought Pete... He slipped it, and opened the lid.
b. To dislocate (a joint). to slip a disc: to sustain a ‘slipped disc’ (slipped ppl. a.1 2).
1727Gay Begg. Op. i. xiii, May my pistols miss fire, and my mare slip her shoulder while I am pursu'd, if I ever forsake thee! 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) II. 45 Who rode against him, and slipped his shoulder. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xxxvii, My horse, I fear, has slipped his shoulder. 1868Daily News 18 July, This boar..slipped its hip last Saturday while it was being washed. 1958‘J. Byrom’ Or be he Dead v. 68 An unfortunate tramp who had slipped a disk. 1974G. Mitchell Javelin for Jonah ii. 33 He told Margot to rake the long-jump pit..and she slipped a disc.
c. To suffer an accidental slipping or sliding of (one's foot).
1769Middlsx. Jrnl. 15–17 June 4/4 A carpenter..coming down stairs..slipped his foot and got..a desperate fall. 1813Examiner 5 Apr. 215/2 A..man..unfortunately slipped his foot, and fell. 1874M. E. Herbert tr. Hübner's Ramble World ii. vi. (1878) 365 He slipped his foot and fell.
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20.
†a. To allow to pass idly or unprofitably; to waste or lose (time). Obs.
1435Misyn Fire of Love 88 Woo be to þame qwhos days ar slippyd & passyd in vanite. 1645G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) II. 82 Poor crauling Emmetts! in what busie toyle Wee slip away our Time? 1687Hist. Sir John Hawkwood iv. 7 To slip no time, lest he should be anticeeded, he sits him down.
b. To allow (an occasion, opportunity, etc.) to slip or pass by; to neglect or fail to take advantage of.
c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta v. ii, Slip not thine oportunity. 1597Daniel Civ. Wars ii. xlvii, Here, my sou'raigne, to make longer stay..May slippe th' occasion, and incense their will. 1647N. Ward Simp. Cobler 35 If this market be slipt, things may grow..deare. 1699Bentley Phalaris 187 The consciousness of his own guilt made him slip this fair occasion of traducing me. 1721De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 175 Advantages slipt in war are never recovered. 1781C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper I. 193 He could not slip the opportunity. 1831R. Shennan Tales 164 (E.D.D.), Then slip not the chance when it is in your power.
†c. To fail in keeping (a prescribed time). Obs.
1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 52 He did command me to call timely on him, I haue almost slipt the houre. 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 395, I slipt my Time.
21. To pass over, omit in speaking; to avoid mention or consideration of. Also with over.
1605B. Jonson Volpone iv. i, I do slippe No action of my life, thus, but I quote it. 1612Webster White Devil iv. i, Some divines you might find foulded there; But that I slip them o're for conscience sake. 1690Andros Tracts II. 63 We had almost slipt the Notice of a Bawl or two these Libellers make about Damnifying their Church. 1748Washington Jrnl. 25 Mar., Writ. 1889 I. 3 Nothing remarkable on Thursday... So shall slip it. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxxii, Like an inconsiderate boy,..I slip the thoughts of life and death.
b. To neglect; to omit or fail to prosecute, perform, employ, etc.; to skip, to miss.
1592Arden of Feversham iii. ii, Wert not a serious thing we go about, It should be slipt til I had fought with thee. 1620Hist. Frier Rush 22, I pray thee..briefly to make an end of thy enterprise, and slip it not. 1711Swift Lett. (1767) III. 259 Our ministers are too negligent of such things: I have never slipt giving them warning. 1721Amherst Terræ-Fil. No. 10 (1726) 51 Whether it was usual now and then to slip a lecture or so. 1728Ramsay General Mistake 137 [He] changes, lends, extorses, cheats and grips, And no ae turn of gainfu' us'ry slips.
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22. To elude or evade, esp. in a stealthy manner; to escape from; to give the slip to.
1513Douglas æneid ii. vi. 41 Bot lo! Panthus, slippit the Grekis speris,..Cummis like ane wod man to our ȝet rynning. 1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. iii. vi, Why was't not my inuention, brother, To slip the Judges. 1669Penn No Cross i. iii. §6 No, not a Thought must slip the Watch. 1702Vanbrugh False Friend v. i, He sees me; 'tis too late to slip him. 1746H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 107 To prevent the rebels slipping the Duke. 1891Roberts Adrift Amer. 198 That very night I slipped him while he was asleep, and got clear away.
b. To pass by, get in front of; to outdistance.
1856H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock xiii. 324 He had slipped all the rest of the field. 1896Sportsman 10 July 3/8 The metropolitan crew managed to slip their doughty antagonists at the start.
c. With up. To defraud or swindle; to disappoint. Austr. slang.
1890Melbourne Argus 9 Aug. 4/2, I'd only be slipped up if I trusted to them. 1891N. Gould Double Event 92 It's deuced hard lines..to be slipped up like this.
d. To escape from the grasp of (a person).
1898G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 62 She swung the sword for centuries: in a day It slipped her.
23. To disengage oneself or get loose from (a collar, halter, etc.). Freq. fig. (cf. collar n. 8).
1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. of Love 16 He can not slippe the coller with me as erst he did, in leauyng the former sentence. 1594Lyly Mother Bombie ii. i, I hope you shall neuer slip string, but hang steddie. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 5 Mammonets..are tied by the hips, that they slip not collar. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. 309 They also fasten them..that, in case they should break or slip their Halters, they may not get away. 1821Scott Kenilw. xiii, Hobgoblin..is like to play the devil in the world, if he can once slip the string. 1836Uncle Philip's Convers. Whale Fishery 38 [The whale] must be struck in the proper way or he will slip the harpoon. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. vii. x, Rascality has slipped its muzzle. 1890Spectator 28 June, An overworked man who has contrived for a week or two to slip the collar of professional responsibility.
24. To escape from (one's memory); to elude (one's notice, knowledge, etc.).
1652J. Collinges Caveat for Prophanen. xxvii. (1653) 112 Reasons..which have slipt my memory. 1709E. Baynard Cold Baths ii. 188 Very few..remarkable Passages..of the Ancient..Writers slip your Observation. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 140 Several good Properties of this Tree having slip'd the Knowledge and Notice of Authors. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ., Le Dimanche, Le Fleur..let as few occasions slip him as his master.
25. To pass or escape inadvertently from (the pen, tongue, etc.).
1751Warburton in W. & Hurd Lett. (1809) 82 The word Hutcheson slipped my pen before I was aware. 1887G. Meredith Ball. & Poems 148 Weak words he has, that slip the nerveless tongue.
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26. To allow to slip (from one's hand, etc.); to loosen one's hold or grasp of; to let go.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxviii. xi, He slipt the raines to east and southerne wind. 1592Greene Def. Conny Catch. Wks. (Grosart) XI. 67 Jacke all this while had an eye to the Bitch, and determined at last to slip her haulter. 1684R. H. School Recreat. 59 Caveating or Disengaging. Here you must..slip your Adversaries Sword, when you perceive him about to bind or secure yours. 1764J. Ferguson Lect. ii. 13 A pebble moved round in a sling..will fly off the moment it is set at liberty, by slipping one end of the sling-cord. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 104 These..slipped the ropes and did battle with their assailants. 1883Law Times Rep. XLIX. 332 The tow-rope of the tug was slipped.
fig.1611Shakes. Cymb. iv. iii. 22 Wee'l slip you for a season, but our iealousie Do's yet depend.
b. To allow to escape; to utter († or commit) inadvertently. Also with out.
a1591H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 12 That they may forget themselves at such a time, and step too far, and slip a sin. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To slip out a Word, lâcher une parole. 1723Pres. State of Russia II. 151 But I was drunk,..and I slipt those Words, trusting to my Servants. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. ix, They once or twice mortified us sensibly by slipping out an oath.
c. to slip one's breath or wind, to expire; to die. colloq.
a1819Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. (1830) 69 (Davies), And for their cats that happed to slip their breath, Old maids..might mourn. 1833Marryat P. Simple (1863) 282 He thinks I am slipping my wind now—but I know better. 1856Reade Never too late to mend I. x. 180 You give him the right stuff, doctor,..and he won't slip his wind this time.
d. To emit, send out (light, etc.). rare—1.
1873Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 122 Each pullet-egg Of diamond, slipping flame from fifty slants.
e. Knitting. (See quots.)
1840J. Gaugain Lady's Assistant 13 Slip a stitch having wool in front, then pass the wool to the back under the left pin. 1880Plain Hints Needlew. 14 To decide whether it should be done by knitting 2 loops together, or by slipping a loop (i.e. taking it off without knitting). 1926E. K. Middleton New Knitting 15 To decrease two at a time. Slip one. Knit two together. Draw the slipped stitch over. 1951E. Close Knitting ii. 29 Slip one stitch from the left hand to the right hand needle as if you were about to knit it. 1973M. Stradal Knitting, Crochet & Looping i. 26 Slip one stitch purlwise, thread over needle and knit together the slipped stitch and the thread-over-needle of previous row.
f. To detach (the end carriage or coach) from an express or non-stopping train while running, in order to allow passengers to get out at a certain station.
1866Bradshaw's Railw. Guide Jan. 39 A carriage slipped at Slough at 10.45 aft. 1884G.W.R. Time Tables July 48 Carriage slipped at Reading at 2.4. 1898Daily News 11 Oct. 8/1 The Great Western..were slipping coaches in 1865.
27. To release (a greyhound or other dog, or a hawk) from a leash or slip. Also fig.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 52 Oh sir, Lucentio slipt me like his Gray-hound. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Women Pleas'd ii. ii, When they grow ripe for marriage They must be slipt like Hawkes. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, ccxlix, The Age (it seemes)..broke in the Cell; Slipt her Rebellions, like rude Molaes forth. 1668G. Etherege She wou'd if she cou'd ii. i, Indeed methinks they look as if they never had been slip'd before. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Coursing, The mungril greyhound, whose business it is to drive away the deer before the greyhounds are slip'd. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 126 The horsemen are instantly at full speed, having slipped the dogs.
absol.1893Times 18 Dec. 10/3 W. slipped well. 1904Field 6 Feb. 220/2 Wright I have rarely seen slip better.
b. With after, at, or upon (game, etc.).
1673Hickeringill Greg. F. Greyb. 8 He has stood three or four courses already; the first..that was slipt at him made more hast than good speed. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Coursing, If a proper deer come out, and it is suspected that the brace or leash of greyhounds slip'd after him, will not be able to kill him. 1816Scott Fam. Lett. 21 Dec. (1894) I. 387 Maida is a little lame, but if he gets better I would like to slip him at a fox. 1827D. Johnson Ind. Field Sports 177 Grey-hounds were slipped after such as were wounded. 1859Tennyson Elaine 654 Our falcon yesterday, Who lost the hern we slipt her at. 1903Sir M. G. Gerard Leaves fr. Diaries vii. 213 A friend of mine saw thirteen of these dogs slipped upon a wounded tiger.
fig.1676G. Etherege Man of Mode ii. i, I am going to slip the boy at a mistress. 1832–4De Quincey Cæsars Wks. 1859 X. 218 The Roman army hungered..to be un⁓muzzled and slipped upon these false friends.
c. To unyoke, release.
1859E. Capern Ball. & Songs 41 The ploughman slips his weary team.
28. Naut. To allow (an anchor-cable, etc.) to run out, freq. with a buoy attached, when quitting an anchorage in haste; to drop or disengage (an anchor) in this way.
1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1643/1 The Tripolines slipped their Anchors and made what haste they could into the Port. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. A 4 b, Found three anchors slipped in the Bay. 1722De Foe Col. Jack xviii, She immediately slipped her cable, and put herself under sail. 1790Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. I. 173 Few of them lost any time in weighing their anchors, but either cut or slipped them. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xiv. 35 We made sail, slipped our cable,..and beat about, for four days.
absol.1667Lond. Gaz. No. 203/4 One of them..was forced to come to an Anchor, but the night proving stormy obliged her to slip. 1683Ibid. No. 1787/4 Several other Vessels in this bad Weather slipt, and went to Sea. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §226 The Weston..was therefore ordered to slip and make her best port. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xviii, Vessels are obliged to slip and run for their lives on the first sign of a gale.
b. to slip one's cable, to die.
1751Smollett Per. Pic. lxxix, I told him [a doctor] as how I could slip my cable without his..assistance. 1868Yates Rocks Ahead Prol. ii, Our poor friend, who has, as it were, slipped his cable before my arrival.
29. Of animals: To miscarry with; to drop, bring forth, or cast prematurely. Also transf. of persons.
1665Pepys Diary 31 Mar., My Lady Castlemaine is sick again; people think slipping her filly. 1757Phil. Trans. L. 536 As appears by the cows with calf not slipping their calves. 1759R. Brown Compl. Farmer 52 These [dogs] have sometimes caused them [sows] to slip their pigs. 1827Sport. Mag. XXI. 38 My grey mare had slipped a fine horse foal..and my best cow her calf. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede vi, The cheese may swell, or the cows may slip their calf.
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30. Shipbuilding. To place (a boat) on a slip (slip n.3 1 b) for inspection, repair, etc.
1950H. M. Denham in Jrnl. R. Cruising Club 1949 122, I got Korby slipped (only {pstlg}4) and put on a coat of anti-fouling. 1964Roving Commissions 1903 207 We crossed to Hermione in the hopes of finding a caique yard which would slip us for a reasonable fee to check up on the bump we received at Finike. 1975R. Butler Where all Girls are Sweeter iii. 23 The boat looked new. Short of slipping her she was in prime condition.
Add:[I.] [8.] f. With advb. phrase: to drop or fall in value, etc. by the amount stated. Chiefly of share prices.
1961U.S. News & World Rep. 22 May 109/1 Prices of those bonds have slipped a bit since then. 1971Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 1/4 The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 8.98 points to 836.38, its lowest closing level in more than nine months. 1979Ibid. 15 Aug. 18/4 Glaxo shed 6 to 428p and ICI and Beechams at 340p and 141p both slipped 2p. 1989European Investor Feb. 70/2 The following day the shares slipped 2 per cent to 1357p.
[II.] [22.] e. Boxing. To avoid (a punch) by moving quickly to one side. Also intr. or absol.
[1889E. B. Michell in H. Pollock et al. Fencing, Boxing, Wrestling 170 Another mode of shifting ground, more properly called ‘slipping’ is shown in Fig. VII.] 1897R. G. Allanson-Winn Boxing iv. 29 Vary your defence as much as possible, so as to leave your antagonist in doubt as to whether you are going to guard, duck, or slip, in order to avoid his blow. 1901G. B. Shaw Admirable Bashville ii. i. 304 Cashel was clearly groggy as he slipped the sailor. 1952Amat. Boxing (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 24/2 (caption) Slipping a straight left and countering with right. 1986World Boxing Sept. 37/1 He's learned how to slip a jab, and even though Green's jab is good, it isn't as good as a Pinklon Thomas jab.
▪ VII. slip, v.2|slɪp|
Also 6 slyppe.
[a. MFlem. or MLG. slippen (LG. slippen, MSw. slippa; obs. G. schlipfen), to cut, incise, cleave, etc.]
†1. trans. To cut (a spoon-handle) obliquely at the end. Obs.
1498Test. Ebor. (Surtees) IV. 142, xij coclearia argentea, Slipped in lez stalkes. 1538Ibid. VI. 81, ij spones of sylver slipped at the endes. 1549Inv. Edw. VI in Jackson Hist. Eng. Plate (1911) 497 Fourtene Spones well gilt slipped at thendes.
2. To part (a slip or cutting) from a stock, stalk, or branch, esp. for the purpose of propagation; to divide (a plant, root, etc.) into slips.
1530Palsgr. 721/2, I slyppe an herbe a [? read or] stryke slyppes of it, or leaves from the stalke. 15972nd Pt. Good Housew. Jewel B viij, Put these..into an earthen pot with..Time and rosemary slipped. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 39 If he be little, slip him, and set him, perhaps he will take. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 157 The Branches also may be slipped and planted. 1731Gentl. Mag. I. 93 Sow scorzonera salsfy, and slip skerrits of the last year's growth. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 273 Burnet—may be planted and slipped. 1808Ann. Reg., Chron. 67 When the plant had tillered, I took it up, and slipped or divided it into four sets of slips.
absol.1614Breton I would & I would not xxxviii, I would I were a Gardiner, and had skill To digge and rake, and plant, and sowe, and slippe.
b. With off or from. Also to cut, gather (a flower, etc.).
1563T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 107 Then do the Gardners slip them off from the greater stalkes. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 55 The branches being slipped off, and set in the spring. 1663Bp. Griffith Four Admirable Beasts 20 We can slip a cluster of Grapes from a Vine. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To slip off a Flower, cueillir une Fleur. 1766Compl. Farmer s.v. Skirrets, The side roots should be slipped off with an eye or bud to each. 1790Trans. Soc. Arts VIII. 81, I slipped off several off⁓sets from the heads of large plants. 1825Greenho. Comp. II. 190 Leaves slipped off and planted in moist moss will root, and become plants.
c. In fig. contexts.
1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 367 When ye flower of their youth (being slipped too young) shall fade before they be olde. 1785Paley Mor. Philos. vi. i. (1818) II. 111 Every branch which was slipped off from the primitive stock..would..take root, and grow into a separate clan.
†3. Dicing. (See quot.) Obs.
1711Puckle The Club 31 The Doctors, the Fulloms, Loaded Dice.., High-Slipt, Low-Slipt. [Note.] Dice with their Edges polish'd off, so as to make them run high... Ditto, so as to make them run low.
▪ VIII. slip, v.3 rare—1.
[f. slip n.1 4.]
trans. To paint or ornament (pottery) with slip.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 123 These also being dry, they then Slip or paint them with their several sorts of Slip.
▪ IX. slip, v.4
[f. slip n.2]
1. trans. To face with a slip of some material.
1885Spon Mech. Own Book 353 The shelves and divisions..are slipped with rosewood on the fore edges. Ibid. 373 The proper way is to ‘slip’ them with good mahogany, at least 1/4 in. thick.
2. To note or enter upon a slip or slips.
1895Westm. Gaz. 15 May 7/2 He is sure to be near winning the first event for which he is ‘slipped’. 1902Athenæum 23 Aug. 256/1 Miss Betham-Edwards's new story..is being ‘slipped’ by Dr. Wright..for his ‘Dialect Dictionary’. |