slip

1 /slIp/ verb slipped, slipping

1 SLIDE (I) to accidentally slide a short distance quickly or to fall by sliding: Suddenly, Frank slipped and fell over the edge. | My foot slipped and I nearly fell.

—see also: slippery

2 MOVE QUICKLY (intransitive always + adv/prep) to move quickly, smoothly, or secretly: slip out/through/by etc: Nobody saw her slip silently out. | The weeks slipped slowly by. | The terrorists had slipped through the airport's security net.

3 PUT STH SOMEWHERE (T) to put something somewhere or give someone something quietly, secretly, or smoothly: slip sth around/into/through etc: I slipped a note into his hand under the table. | I slipped the Mercedes into gear. | slip sb sth: Jerry slipped the waiter -5 to get them a good table.

4 LOSE YOUR HOLD (intransitive always + adv/prep) if something that you are holding slips, it falls because it is difficult to hold or was not held firmly: The soap slipped out of my hand. | The knife slipped and cut my finger.

5 GET WORSE (I) to become worse or lower than before: Profits have slipped slightly this year. | You must be slipping - you never used to miss a shot like that.

6 slip your mind/memory if something slips your mind you forget to do something: I'm sorry I missed your birthday; it completely slipped my mind.

7 let sth slip (through your fingers)

to not take an opportunity, offer etc: You're not going to let a chance like that slip through your fingers, are you?

8 slip a disc to suffer an injury when one of the connecting parts between the bones in your back moves out of place

9 GET FREE (T) to get free from something that was holding you: The dog slipped his collar and ran away.

10 let (it) slip (that) to say something without meaning to, when you had wanted it to be a secret: Leila let slip that she's thinking about leaving the company.

11 slip through the net if someone or something slips through the net, they are not caught or dealt with by the system that is supposed to catch them or deal with them: homeless people slip through the social security net

slip into sth phrasal verb (T)

1 to put clothes on quickly: I'll just slip into something more comfortable.

2 slip into sleep/unconsciousness etc to gradually fall asleep, become unconscious etc: Granny slipped into a coma and died peacefully that night.

slip sth off phrasal verb (T) to take clothes off quickly: Slip off your shirt and I'll take your blood pressure. slip sth on phrasal verb (T) to put clothes on quickly: Amanda slipped her robe on. slip out phrasal verb (I) if something slips out, you say it without really intending to: I'm sorry I spoilt your surprise. It just slipped out. slip out of sth phrasal verb (T) to take clothes off quickly: Keith slipped out of his jacket. slip sth over on sb phrasal verb (T) informal, especially AmE to play a clever trick on someone slip up phrasal verb (I) to make a mistake: The office slipped up and the letter was never sent. —see also: slip­up 2 noun

1 PAPER (C) a small or narrow piece of paper

(+ of): Rosie marked her place with a slip of paper.

2 MISTAKE (C) a small mistake: If you make a slip, rub it out neatly.

3 a slip of the tongue/pen something that you say when you meant to say something else: `Jim' was a slip of the tongue; I meant to say `John'.

—see also: Freudian slip

4 give sb the slip informal to manage to escape from someone who is chasing you: Bates gave the police the slip.

5 SLIDE (C) an act of sliding a short distance or of falling by sliding

6 WOMAN'S CLOTHES (C) a piece of clothing that a woman wears under her clothes, and which hangs from her shoulders or her waist

7 a slip of a girl/boy etc old-fashioned a small thin young person: He was only a slip of a lad.

8 CRICKET (countable usually plural) a part of the field where players stand, trying to catch the ball in cricket

9 CLAY (U) clay that is almost liquid and is used for making pots