You describe something as a sopto a person when they are offered something small or unimportant in order to prevent them from getting angry or causing trouble.
[disapproval]
This is an obvious sop to the large Irish-American audience. [+ to]
The government parties may be tempted to throw a few sops to the right-wingers.
sop in British English
(sɒp)
noun
1. (often plural)
food soaked in a liquid before being eaten
2.
a concession, bribe, etc, given to placate or mollify
a sop to one's feelings
3. informal
a foolish or weak person
verbWord forms: sops, sopping or sopped
4. (transitive)
to dip or soak (food) in liquid
5. (whenintr, often foll by in)
to soak or be soaked
Word origin
Old English sopp; related to Old Norse soppasoup, Old High German sopfa milk with bread; see sup2
SOP in British English
abbreviation for
standard operating procedure
sop. in British English
abbreviation for
soprano
soprano in British English
(səˈprɑːnəʊ) or sopranist (səˈprɑːnɪst)
nounWord forms: plural-pranos or -prani (-ˈprɑːniː)
1.
the highest adult female voice, having a range approximately from middle C to the A a thirteenth above it
2.
the voice of a young boy before puberty
3.
a singer with such a voice
4.
the highest part of a piece of harmony
5.
a.
the highest or second highest instrument in a family of instruments
b.
(as modifier)
a soprano saxophone
See also treble
SOP in American English
standard operating procedure
sop in American English
(sɑp)
noun
1.
a piece of food, as bread, soaked in milk, gravy, etc.
2.
a.
something given by way of concession or appeasement
b.
a bribe
verb transitiveWord forms: sopped or ˈsopping
3.
to soak, steep, or saturate in or with liquid
4.
to take up (liquid) by absorption
usually with up
verb intransitive
5.
to soak (in, into, or through something)
6.
to be or become thoroughly wet
Word origin
ME soppe < OE sopp < base of supan: see sup1
Examples of 'sop' in a sentence
sop
It looked like a sop thrown to the minority, yet another hostage to fortune.
Hebblethwaite, Peter Paul VI - The First Modern Pope (1993)