▪ I. lip, n.
(lɪp)
Forms: 1 lippa, 2–7 lippe, (3 leppe), 4–6 lyppe, 5 lyp, (lype), 7 lipp, 4– lip.
[OE. lippa wk. masc., corresponds to OFris. lippa masc., MLG., MDu. lippe fem. (whence mod.G. lippe, mod.Du. lip fem.), MSw. lippe, lippa, and läpe, mod.Sw. läpp, Da. læbe:—OTeut. type *lipjon-, cogn. w. the synonymous OSax. lepor, OHG. leffur, lefs masc. (MHG. lefs masc., lefse fem., mod.Ger. dial. lefze fem.):—OTeut. *lepoz-, *leps, f. root *lep-, pre-Teut. *leb-; ablaut-variants occur in L. labium, labrum, and Pehlevi lap (mod.Persian lab) lip. The LG. word was adopted into OF. as lipe, whence mod.F. lippe thick under-lip.]
I. 1. a. Either of the two fleshy structures which in man and other animals form the edges of the mouth. Distinguished as upper and lower, also as † over (obs.) and under, colloq. or dial. top and bottom lip. Phr. (immersed, steeped) to the lips.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 157/22, Labium, ufeweard lippa. Labrum, niðera lippe. Rostrum, foreweard feng þære lippena togædere. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 100 Wið lippe sar. c 1205 Lay. 29359 Of cnihten he carf þe lippes. 13.. K. Alis. 6428 Heo no hath nose, no mouth, no toth, no lippe. c 1375 XI Pains of Hell 81 in O.E. Misc. 213 Þo þat stod vp to þe leppis Be þe seruys of god þai set noȝt by. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 52 Poysoun on a pole þei put vp to his lippes. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 100 Men þat hase þe ouer lippe so grete þat, when þai slepe in þe sonne, þai couer all þe visage with þat lippe. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 1928 His lyppys round, his noys was squar and tret. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems liii. 39 For lauchter nain mycht hald thair lippis. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 49 When she drinkes, against her lips I bob. 1604 ― Oth. iv. ii. 50 Had they..Steep'd me in pouertie to the very lippes. 1724 R. Wodrow Life J. Wodrow 166, I observed his lips quivering. 1758 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 37 A cancerous Tumour on the Middle of the Under-Lip. 1822 Shelley Fragm. Unfinished Drama 113 Some said he was..steeped in bitter infamy to the lips. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes (1859) I. 449 [The Loach] ..with four barbels or cirri..on the upper lip in the front. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. xvi. 51 To the lips was he in luxury immersed. 1891 T. Hardy Tess ii. xxii, The little upward lift in the middle of her top lip. |
† b. Proverbs. (See also
lettuce 2.)
Obs.| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 77 He can yll pype, that lackth his vpper lyp. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. Hist. Scot. 464 A man cannot pipe without his vpper lip. |
† c. transf. or
fig. in
phr. the lip (? = point) of a lance.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 10139 With the lippe of þere launsis so launchet þai somyn. Ibid. 10147. |
d. = embouchure 3; the condition or strength of a wind instrumentalist's lips.
| 1889 in Cent. Dict. 1933 Metronome July 26 He's got the ideas, but his lip's weak yet. 1960 Jazz Rev. Nov. 10 My lip went bad after a year in the Earl Hines band. 1972 Rolling Stone 9 Nov. 10/2 Having not played for several months, Miles had lost the eternally fragile trumpeters' lip. |
2. In phrases referring to certain actions regarded as indicative of particular states of feeling.
to bite one's lip or
† on one's lip, (
a) to show vexation, (
b) to repress emotion;
to carry or keep a stiff upper lip, to keep one's courage, not to lose heart; in bad sense, to be hard or obstinate;
to curl one's lip (see
curl v. 3 b);
† to fall a lip of contempt, to express contempt by the movement of the lip;
† to hang the lip, to look vexed (
cf. hang v. 4 b);
to lay (a person) on the lips, to kiss (see
lay v. 34);
to lick one's lips (see
lick v. 1 b);
† to make (up) a lip, to frame the lips so as to express vexation or merriment
at; to pout or poke fun
at [
cf. F.
faire sa lippe];
to smack one's lips, to express relish for food,
fig. to express delight.
| 1330 [see bite v. 16]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 67 For wraþþe he bot his lippes. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 283 And go so forth as I go may, Fulofte bitinge on my lippe. 1546 Bp. Gardiner Declar. Art. Joye 46 b, Eyther they make a lyppe at it, or yelde with silence to seme to gyue place to auctoritie for the tyme. 1557 Seager Sch. Vertue 455 in Babees Bk., Not smackyng thy lyppes As comonly do hogges. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 846 The Erle.. was therewithall a little vexed, & began somwhat to hang the lip. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 127, I will make a Lippe at the Physician. 1611 ― Wint. T. i. ii. 373 Hee..falling A Lippe of much contempt, speedes from me. 1781 F. Burney Diary 14 Sept., Was not that a speech to provoke Miss Grizzle herself? However, I only made up a saucy lip. 1833 J. Neal Down Easters I. ii. 15 ‘What's the use o' boo⁓hooin'?.. Keep a stiff upper lip; no bones broke—don't I know?’ 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xxv, She used to carry a stiff upper lip, and make him and the broomstick well acquainted together. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlv, He then drank..and smacking his lips, held out the tumbler for more. 1840 Browning Sordello ii. 70 He..Biting his lip to keep down a great smile Of pride. 1969 C. Booker Neophiliacs vi. 134 The tradition of ‘stiff upper lip’ epics looking back to wartime greatness. 1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul. i. i. 11 Machismo..the Spanish equivalent of virtus..had little to do with English courage or a stiff upper lip. 1973 Guardian 10 Feb. 3/3 Stiff upper lip all round on Mrs Gandhi's taunt. 1973 Times 24 Dec. 14/4 (heading) How the Italians are facing up to austerity with a stiff upper lip. |
3. a. Chiefly
pl. Considered as one of the organs of speech; often in figurative contexts. (In early examples chiefly in literalisms from the
Vulg.)
† to lift or move a lip: to utter even the slightest word
against.
to escape (a person's) lips: see
escape v.
to hang on (a person's) lips: to listen with rapt attention to his speech.
| c 1020 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) xxxviii. (1888) 69 Mine lippan þu ᵹeopena & min muð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 158 Ich am a man mid suilede lippen. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 266/192 Heo ne wawede leome non bote hire lippene vnneþe Ȝware-with heo seide hire oresun. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. ix. 34 Heo hath a mury mouht to mele, With lefly rede lippes lele, Romaunz forte rede. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxv. (Thadee) 147 Na ȝet þi lyppis suld nocht be opnyt to pray the trinite. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 132 And the locke of good aduysement shall be set on our lyppes. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 42/2 We may not once moue the lippe against them. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 78 Mercie then will breathe within your lips. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 240 Peace Troyan, lay thy finger on thy lips. 1625 Bacon Ess., Of Atheism (Arb.) 333 Atheisme is rather in the Lip, than in the Heart of Man. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 56 From his Lip Not Words alone pleas'd her. 1704 Good Expedient for Innoc. & Peace in Harl. Misc. (1746) VIII. 14/2 It might appear a Crime to lift a Lip against, or return any Answer to this Objection. 1781 Cowper Expost. 44 Hypocrisy, formality in prayer, And the dull service of the lip, were there. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 50 Not less among us lived Her fame from lip to lip. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xi. III. 127 John Hampden..produced a composition..too vituperative to suit the lips of the Speaker. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 238 Unless I hear the contrary from your own lips. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 427 If the Christianity of the lips is consistent with anti-Christianity of life. |
† b. sing. Language; chiefly in phrase,
of one lip (a Hebraism); also used for ‘agreeing in one story’.
lit. and
fig. Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xi. 1 Forsothe the erthe was of oo lip [1388 langage], and of the same wordis. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 174 [The poor Clothiers of Worcester] are all of one Lip, a bad Trade, and they do not know when it will mend [etc.]. 1681 Whole Duty Nations 15 In parts remote one from another, and of a divers lip or language. 1695 Ld. Preston Boeth. ii. 90 This, People of a different Lip doth bind With sacred Cords. |
c. slang. Saucy talk, impudence.
| 1821 D. Haggart's Life (ed. 2) 20, I was at no loss in vindicating myself and giving him plenty of lip. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn v. 31 ‘Don't you give me none o' your lip,’ says he. 1895 Crockett Cleg Kelly xx. (1896) 152 Says Sal to me, ‘None of your lip’. |
d. A lawyer,
esp. a criminal lawyer.
U.S. slang.| 1929 Sat. Even. Post 13 Apr. 54/3 A lawyer is a mouthpiece or a shyster or a lip. 1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 456/2 Get a lip for a writ an' I'll lam. 1950 H. E. Goldin et al. Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 127/1 The lip took a hundred skins (dollars) and never showed (appeared) in court. |
II. Something resembling the lips of the mouth.
4. a. The margin of a cup or any similar vessel;
e.g. of a bell.
| 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia 60 And in the bearing out of the lippe of the vessell ouer the perpendicular poynt of the heade there was fastened a rynge. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. Proem 9 The Orifice [of a vessel] is incircled with a lip of Glass, almost an inch high. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth i. viii. I. 102 The Sea..bounded against those Hills..as the ledges or lips of its Vessel. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chem. I. 321 Raise the coals quite to the lip of the crucible. 1810 E. D. Clarke Trav. Russia (1839) 31/1 The fracture had taken place..seven feet high from the lip of the bell. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. 259 A small brown pitcher with the lip broken. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xx, He held out the tiny glass..‘Now wet the lip of the phial’. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 156 [The] Lips..[are] the rounded edges of the cylinder in a Cylinder Escapement. |
b. The edge of any opening or cavity,
esp. of the crater of a volcano.
| 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 38/1 The Lips of the Apertures. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 341 Every stream of lava descending from the lips of the crater. 1855 Stephens Bk. Farm (ed. 2) II. 575/2 The remainder should be placed on the ditch lip on the headridge. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 190 The partially-molten rock..may eventually run over the lip of the crater. 1879 E. Garrett House by Works II. 106 Crouching..under the heathery lip of the chasm. |
c. In wider sense: Any edge or rim,
esp. one that projects;
spec. in
Coal-mining (see
quot. 1883).
| 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 589 Certaine claspes which..caught holde of the edge or lip of the table. 1813 Sporting Mag. XLII. 130 The lip of the hammer [of a gun] over⁓hangs the upper edge of the inclined plane. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxix. 379 Round the northern lip of this coal tract. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Lip,..the low part of the roof of a gate-road near to the face; taken down or ripped, as it is called, as the face advances. 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums xv. 102 The Laird o' Auchinskeich had a bit mailin' on the lip o' the moss. |
5. In scientific and technical uses.
a. Surg. One of the edges of a wound.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 35 Be war þat..no þing..þat lettiþ consolidacioun, falle bitwene þe lippis of þe wounde. 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 F iv, Yf the lyppes of the vlcere appere harde and stony, they must be cutte. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. 333 The Chirurgeon does often hinder Nature from closing up the Lips of a Wound. 1758 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) Introd. 3 The Lips of a Wound must be joined. 1807–26 S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 288 As soon as the bones are reduced, the lips of the wound are to be accurately brought together. 1889 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |
b. Anat. and
Zool. = labium or
labrum.
| 1597 [see labium 1 a]. 1611 Cotgr., Landies, the two Pterigones, or great wings within the lips of a womans Priuities. 1722 [see labium 1 b]. 1828, 1862 [see labium 2]. 1875 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) II. 280/2 (Arachnida), A rudimentary sternal lip (labium). 1880 [see labrum]. 1901 Gray's Anat. (ed. 15) 631 The central lobe or island of Reil lies deeply in the Sylvian fissure, and can only be seen when the lips of that fissure are widely separated. |
c. Bot. (
a) One of the two divisions of a bilabiate corolla or calyx. (
b)
= labellum 1.
| 1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. Explan. Terms 395 Ringens, gaping, irregular, with two lips. 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 41 Lip scolloped, blunt, longer than the petals. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 434 Ajuga [has] scarcely any upper lip at all. 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. i. ii. §7. 118 The lower lip or labellum, the latter term is chiefly applied to the lower lip of Orchideous plants. 1892 Garden 27 Aug. 184 Orchids. Cattleya Schilleriana... The lip is three-lobed. |
d. Conch. One of the edges of the aperture of a spiral shell.
| 1681 Grew Musæum 124 Note, That when I speak of the Right or Left Lip of a Shell, I mean, as it is held with the Mouth downward. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. I. xx. 216 One of the innumerable groups of curves at the lip of a paper Nautilus. 1866 Tate Brit. Mollusks iii. 45 The outer lip is thin, not thickened or reflected as in the majority of the land shells. |
e. Mech. In various senses (see
quots.).
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 130 Lips of scarphs. The substance left at the ends, which would otherwise become sharp, and be liable to split, and, in other cases, could not bear caulking. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Lip, the helical blade on the end of an auger to cut the chip. 1898 Cycling 53 Split bracket; ‘lips’ compressed by screw bolt. |
f. Organ-building. (See
quot. 1876.)
| 1727–52 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Organ, Over this aperture is the mouth BBCC; whose upper lip, CC, being level, cuts the wind as it comes out at the aperture. 1852 Seidel Organ 79 The good intonation, or speaking of a pipe, depends on the correct position of the lips. 1876 J. Hiles Catech. Organ iv. (1878) 24 Above and below [the mouth of an organ pipe] are two edges called the lips. 1881 C. A. Edwards Organs 128 The opening between the lips of a pipe is called ‘the mouth’. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive: (
a) belonging to a lip or lips, as in
lip-end,
lip-favour,
lip-hair,
lip-position,
lip-quiver,
lip-smile; also
lip-like adj.| 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 70 Sometimes, only those at the *lip ends of the scarphs are left. |
| 1592 Greene Philomela (1615) E 2, Lutesio kind, gaue the Gentlewoman a kisse: for he thought she valued a *lip fauour more then a peece of gold. |
| 1873 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 325 Snobs and gents, and men with waxed *lip-hair. |
| 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 543/1 The *lip-like folds of skin before the membrana tympani. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 128 The upper lip-like portion of the anterior suckers. |
| 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. iii, His house full Of children, clyents, servants, flattering friends, Soothing his *lip-positions. |
| 1851 H. Melville Whale xxxiv. 167 Dough-Boy's life was one continual *lip-quiver. |
| 1871 G. Meredith H. Richmond xvii, She had her lips tight in a mere *lip-smile. |
(
b) In uses relating to the lips as the organs of speech (sense 3), chiefly with the implication ‘merely from the lips, not heartfelt’, as in
lip-babble,
lip-Christian,
lip-comfort,
lip-comforter,
lip-cozenage,
lip-devotion,
† lip-gospeller,
lip-holiness,
lip-homage,
lip-love,
† lip-lusciousness,
lip-physic,
lip-religion,
lip-resignation,
lip-revel,
lip-reverence,
lip-reward,
lip-righteousness,
lip-wisdom;
lip-† good,
lip-holy,
lip-learned,
lip-wise adjs. Freq. in terms of Phonetics, as
lip-action,
lip-closure,
lip-consonant,
lip-position,
lip-protrusion,
lip-rounded adj.,
lip-rounding,
lip-spreading.
| 1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 107 It is relative tenseness, too, which in addition to *lip-action, makes the Italian vowels very different from those of English. |
| 1895 Zangwill Master i. vi. 70 Were these things, then, merely *lip-babble? |
| 1882 Farrar Early Chr. I. 448 note, He is speaking, not of *lip-Christians but, of converts who lapse into ‘wretchlessness of unclean living’. |
| 1922 O. Jespersen Lang. 278 That *lip-closure which is an essential part of the ordinary [m]. |
| 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iii. i, *Lip comfort cannot cure me. |
| a 1815 Southey Soldier's Funeral 43 Reverend *lip-comforters that once a week Proclaim how blessed are the poor. |
| 1867 *Lip consonant [see back a. 1 c]. 1877 H. Sweet Handbk. Phonetics 32 Lip. S.G. w in ‘wie’, ‘wo’ is an example of a pure lip consonant. |
| 1627 E. F. Hist. Edw. II (1680) 40 Pretends himself, with a new strain of *Lip-cousenage, to be the Heir of Edward the First. |
| 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 292 There may be somewhat like prayer, which yet is not prayer, but *lip-deuotion. |
| 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus i. ii, But, when his Grace is merely but *lip-good, And that [etc.]. |
| 1558 E. P. tr. Cranmer's Confut. Unwrit. Verities Pref. A iiij, We were..*lippe gospellers, from the mouth outeward and no farther. |
| 1624 Davenport City Nt.-Cap i. i, She that is *lip-holy Is many times heart-hollow. |
| 1591 Greene Maiden's Dream in Shaks. Soc. Papers (1845) II. 141 *Lip-holines in Cleargie men [Dyce suggests Lip-holy Clergie men] he could not brooke. |
| 1858 R. A. Vaughan Ess. & Rem. I. 46 The transcendentalist bestows upon it [Christianity] his *lip-homage. |
| 1683 Tryon Way to Health 531 The fashion which our *Lip-learned Physitians and Apothecaries..practice is this [etc.]. |
| a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Philem. 7 There is a frozen charity, and a *lip-love found among many professors, whom Christ will disown at the great day. |
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah i. iv. 10 Some conceive voluptuousnesse thereby is forbidden; others *lip-lusciousnesse and hypocrisie in divine service. |
| a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Lover's Progr. i. i, This is cold comfort, And, in a friend, *lip-physic. |
| 1929 Amer. Speech IV. 414 The *lip position of the Gascon sound was identical with that of the Parisian b. |
| 1932 D. Jones Outl. Eng. Phonetics (ed. 3) xxi. 177 A correct English ʃ may be acquired by..retracting the tip of the tongue and exaggerating the *lip-protrusion. |
| 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 14 These marchants deceyve moche by there paynted faulshode and *lipp religion. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. IV. lxix. 353 The Invisible Power that has been the object of..*lip-resignation. |
| 1815 Milman Fazio (1821) 42 'Tis an old tale Thy fond *lip-revel on a lady's beauties. |
| c 1843 Carlyle Hist. Sk. Jas. I & Chas. I (1898) 204 Not with *lip-reverence but heart-reverence. |
| 1595 Markham Sir R. Grinvile l, To euery act shee giues huge *lyp-reward. |
| 1801 Southey Thalaba v. xxxv, For the dupes Of human-kind keep this *lip-righteousness! |
| 1921 E. Sapir Lang. viii. 186 In foti ‘feet’ the long o was colored by the following i to long ö, that is, o kept its *lip-rounded quality. |
| 1910 Mod. Lang. Rev. V. 93 The *lip-rounding is less energetic. 1950 D. Jones Phoneme xxxi. 224 A..case..for representing the Japanese u by w on the ground that it has less lip-rounding than the European u-sounds. |
| 1964 R. H. Robins Gen. Ling. 97 The English front vowels are mostly accompanied by *lip-spreading. 1964 P. Strevens in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 121 Pupils may be exhorted to..‘smile a little as you say that’, in order to achieve voicing or lip-spreading. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1629) 65 All is but *lip-wisedom, which wants experience. |
| 1603 Florio Montaigne i. li. (1632) 166 They only are good Pretors, to do justice in the Citie, that are subtile, cautelous, wily and *lip-wise. |
b. objective and
obj. genitive, as
lip-biting,
lip-feeding,
lip-treatment;
lip-blushing,
lip-dewing,
adjs.| a 1734 North Exam. iii. viii. §10 (1740) 589 How they had posted themselves in the View of the Prisoner, and made Signals at all Turns with Winks and *Lipbitings. |
| c 1588 Kyd 1st Pt. Jeronimo (1605) B, By this *lip blushing kisse. |
| 1791–3 Wordsw. Descr. Sk. 132 *Lip-dewing song. |
| 1647 Trapp Comm. Matt. xiii. 52 God hath purposely put honey and milk under their tongues..that they may look to *lip-feeding. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 343 Neglect of this precaution is almost certain to produce failure of the *lip-treatment. |
c. instrumental and locative, as
lip-bearded,
lip-born,
lip-licked adjs.| 1615 A. Niccholes Marr. & Wiving vi. 17 Meere Croanes..*lip-bearded, as wiches. |
| 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. lxxx. IV. 279 Why had he brought his cheap regard and his *lip-born words to her who had nothing paltry to give in exchange? |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 4 Clouted complements, stolne Phrases, and *lip-licked labours, of lamp-liuing spirits. |
7. Special comb.:
lip-auger (see
quot.);
† lip-berry, ? any small red berry,
esp. that of the Arum;
lip-bit (see
quot.);
lip-blossomed a. (
nonce-wd.), labiate;
lip-bolt = lip-head bolt:
lip-brush, a small brush used to apply lipstick;
lip-click, a clicking noise made with the lips;
† lip-clip, a kiss;
lip-fern (see
quot.);
lip-full a. dial., full to the lips;
† lip-glass (see
quot.);
lip gloss, a glossy cosmetic applied to the lips;
lip-head bolt (see
quot.);
lip-hook, (
a) the upper hook of several on a line, which is put through the lip of a live bait; (
b) ‘a grapnel for catching in the lip of the whale, to tow it to the vessel’ (Knight);
lip-language, (in the instruction of the deaf and dumb) language communicated by movements of the lips;
† lip-letter, a labial (see
labial n. 1);
† lip-lick, a kiss;
lip-line, the outline of a person's lips;
lip microphone (see
quot. 1941);
lip pencil (see
pencil n. 2 c);
lip-piece, a plug of wood thrust through the lip and worn as an ornament;
lip-pipe Organ-building, a flue-pipe;
lip-plate, the hypostome of trilobites (
Cent. Dict.);
lip-plug = lip-piece;
lip-print, the imprint made by a person's lips;
lip-read v. trans. and intr., to apprehend (someone, or what someone says) by observing the movement of the lips; so
lip-reader;
lip-reading, (in the instruction of the deaf and dumb) the apprehending of what another says by watching the movements of his lips;
lip-ring, a ring passed through the lip, and worn as an ornament;
lip-rouge, red cosmetic for the lips;
lip-smacking, the act of smacking one's lips (see
smack v.
2 1); also as
ppl. adj.;
lip-speaking, speaking to one who is deaf by means of movements of the lips (
cf. lip-reading);
lip-spine Conch., a spine on the edge of a shell (
Cent. Dict.);
lip-strap (see
quot.);
lip-sworn a., that has taken an oath of secrecy;
lip-sync(h),
-synchronization (see
quots.); so
lip-sync v. intr.,
lip-synchronized ppl. a.,
lip-syncing vbl. n.;
lip-thatch (
jocular), a moustache;
lip-tooth, a tooth on the lip of a shell;
lip-vein, a labial vein (see
labial a. 1 b);
lip-wing (
jocular), a moustache;
lip-work = lip-labour (so
lip-working adj.);
lip-wort seed nonce-wd. (
humorous)
= idle talk. Also
lip-deep,
lip-labour, lip-salve,
lip-service,
lip-worship.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. s.v. Lip, A *lip auger has pod and lip; in contradistinction to the screw auger. |
| a 1613 Dennys Secr. Angling ii. xxxv. C 8 b, *Lip berries from the bryar bush or weede. 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-mecum iv. §27 (1689) 27 Lip-berries. Whose true name is Aron berries or Berries of Cookow-pints or Wake-Robin. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Lip-bit, a boring tool adapted to be used in a brace, and having a cutting lip projecting beyond the end of the barrel. |
| 1876 E. R. Lankester Hist. Creation I. i. 15 The great natural family of *lip-blossomed plants. |
| 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 38 These *lip bolts are likewise shown. |
| 1947 Glamour Aug. 96 If you're aiming for makeup perfection..you'll naturally want the finest in *lipbrushes. 1958 Lipbrush [see aerosol 2]. 1960 News Chron. 21 June 6/2 Make the most of the mouth one has... This can only be done skilfully with a lip-brush. |
| 1606 Wily Beguiled 21 A Maid cannot loue, or catch a *lip clip or lap clap, but heers such tittle tattle. 1933 E. Sitwell Eng. Eccentrics 18 The *lip-clicks of the earthworms which are, it may be, amongst the earliest origins of our language. |
| 1890 Century Dict., *Lip-fern, a fern of the genus Cheilanthes; in allusion to the lip-like indusium. |
| 1822 H. Ainslie Land of Burns 16 The recent rains have..swollen the river *lip full. |
| 1825 T. Cosnett Footman's Direct. 128 Two sets of finger-glasses, and *lip-glasses for the company to wash their mouths in. |
| 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 437/1 Max Factor... *Lip gloss—2/6. 1972 Country Life 4 May 1127/3, I have now come to..like lip gloss... These shiny lip colours have several good uses. You can use them alone for a pale, glossy look or you can put them over a lipstick to add gloss. 1972 Vogue June Special 90 Blueberry Wine Lipstick matching Lip Gloss. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Lip-head Bolt, a bolt with a head projecting sideways. |
| 1870 H. Cholmondeley-Pennell Mod. Pract. Angler 12 The *lip-hook is a very important portion of the spinning-flight. Ibid. 208 The single lip-hook is passed through the upper lip of the bait. |
| 1879 H. Calderwood Mind & Br. 209 The German method of instructing deaf-mutes by *lip-language. |
| 1591 R. Percivall Sp. Dict., B is a *lip-letter. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 40 When she shal embrace thee, when *lyplicks sweetlye she fastneth. |
| 1951 W. Sansom Face of Innocence ii. 21 A smell of coffee and cigars blended with the black perfume and the red *lipline of Eve's presence. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. Suppl. 5/3 It is seldom the young who apply their lipstick badly. Their natural lip-line is still clear. |
| 1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 17 *Lip microphone, type of ribbon microphone designed to be held close to the mouth and to eliminate extraneous sounds reaching it from either side. 1949 Electronic Engin. XXI. 354 There will be a commentator's box equipped with a lip microphone. |
| 1904 *Lip pencil [see pencil n. 2 c]. 1948 Woman & Beauty Dec. 57 (caption) One of the new Gala lip pencils. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 111 note, This custom of the women's wearing the ‘*lip-piece’ by way of ornament. |
| 1855 Hopkins Organ 354 *Lip, mouth, or flue pipes..are such as have an oblong opening, called the mouth..bounded above and below by two edges called the lips; which are made to sound by the wind first passing through a narrow fissure, flue, or wind-way. 1876 [see labial A. 1 c]. |
| 1894 Nation (N.Y.) 14 June 451/1 The Suyá are made fun of for their *lip-plug, or botoco. |
| 1934 ‘J. Rhode’ Poison for One ii. ii. 92 Has it [sc. a drinking-glass] been examined for what I may term *lip-prints? 1970 New Scientist 3 Sept. 455/2 They have collected lip prints from 280 people, using a technique akin to finger printing. |
| 1892 Strand Mag. Mar. 250/2 He..*lip read the advocates who examined him. Ibid. 251/1 He would like to test the lad's ability to speak, and to lip read. 1906 Chambers's Jrnl. 29 Dec. 80/1 An arithmetic class where questions..were not only heard (or, rather, lip-read) but answered. 1946 Sat. Even. Post 9 Mar. 10/2 Tele addicts contend they see football better than from any seat in the stadium, and can lip-read the signals. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio x. 170 My deaf friend preferred to switch it off and lip-read. 1973 C. Carfax Sleeping Salamander vii. 66 Watching, I lipread rather than heard his words. |
| 1912 Strand Mag. Jan. 15/1 In those days this youthful *lip-reader had no name for her gift of seeing speech. 1941 V. Woolf Between Acts 242 There was Dodge, the lip reader,..a seeker like her after hidden faces. 1974 R. C. Dennis Conversations with Corpse ii. 10 A pity you aren't a lip reader. |
| 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. §185 a. 204 It has long been known that individuals among the Deaf-and-Dumb have acquired the power of ‘*lip-reading’. |
| 1866 Livingstone Last Jrnls. I. i. 24 The teeth are filed to points, and huge *lip-rings are worn by the women. |
| 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 11/1 Leave a good impression, use lots of *lip rouge. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel i. 76 She smeared liprouge on his nose. |
| 1947 N. Lindsay Halfway to Anywhere vii. 124 With *lip smacking over swigs of cooking sherry, it was felt that luxury could go no farther. 1958 [see capsulize v.]. 1966 Auden About House 21 Lip-smacking Imps of mawk and hooey. |
| 1880 Times 28 Sept. 9/5 If *lip-speaking could not be taught, the deaf, while they must have continued a community apart, would have [etc.]. |
| 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 232 *Lip-strap, a small strap with a buckle passing from one cheek of the bit through a ring in the centre of the curb chain to the other cheek, for the purpose of preventing the horse from seizing the cheek of the bit in his mouth. |
| 1602 Middleton Blurt Master-Const. iii iii. E 4 b, Your *lip-sworne seruant may there visit you as a Physition. |
| 1957 Manvell & Huntley Technique Film Music ii. 27 The Jazz Singer..introduced in certain sequences *lip-synchronized singing by Al Jolson. |
| 1959 W. S. Sharps Dict. Cinematogr. 107/1 Lip synchronization. Abbreviated to Lip sync. The recording of sound, usually at the same time as its associated picture, so that on projection of the completed film, the words uttered synchronize exactly with the performer's lip movements as shown in the picture. |
| 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business 55 Lip sync, to move the lips in synchronization with a recorded sound; to pantomime with a recording. 1970 M. Tormé Other Side of Rainbow (1971) iii. 50 A decision was made to prerecord one of Judy's songs, which she would lip-sync on the show. While lip-syncing is anathema to most singers, it was Judy's particular teacup. 1972 Cinema Rising Aug. 2/2 A feature-length Western, and a lip-synch musical. |
| 1892 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 167 For each man knows, ere his *lip-thatch grows, he is master of Art and Truth. |
| 1886 E. D. Cope Origin Fittest v. (1887) 178 The *lip-teeth characteristic of the genus Triodopsis. |
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 29 b/2 The seaventh is the *lippe vayne, whereof on each syde are two. |
| 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy II. 58 Twirled the dexter side of his *lip-wing. |
| 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass i. ii, Fitz... And I except all kissing..I forbid all *lip-work. 1649 Milton Eikon. i. Wks. 1851 III. 344 Manuals, and Handmaids of Devotion, the lip-work of every Prelatical Liturgist, clapt together, and quilted out of Scripture phrase. 1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough II. lxix. 231 There can be no doubt..that Marlborough did make these protestations of penitence..But it was all lip-work. |
| 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 311 Their office is to pray for others. And not to be the *lip-working deacons of other mens appointed words. |
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 211 Lyuerwort I haue none: but *Lipwort seede I haue. |
▸
lip stud n. an ornamental stud worn through a pierced lip.
| 1886 Amer. Naturalist 20 598 The characteristic *lip-stud of the western Eskimos, of which a pair is now universally worn in the under lip, one at each corner of the mouth. 2001 V. Coren & C. Skelton Once more, with Feeling li. 316 They've even got the same lip stud. |
▪ II. lip, v.1 (
lɪp)
[f. lip n.] 1. a. trans. To touch with the lips, apply the lips to.
| 1826 E. Irving Babylon I. iv. 262 As it were lipping the cup, whose bitterness this generation shall have to drink. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 166 Or the bubble on the wine, which breaks Before you lip the glass. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xviii. 154 After the final adjustment of the mouthpiece lipping the instrument with an affectation exquisitely grotesque. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xlii, No good sheep-dog even so much as lips a sheep to turn it. 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Lip, to, to adjust the lips so as to produce the proper tone of wind-instruments played by the mouth. |
b. To kiss.
poet.| 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 72 To lip a wanton in a secure Cowch. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 30 A hand that Kings Haue lipt, and trembled kissing. 1605 Marston Eastward Hoe i. i, Lip her, knave, lip her. a 1845 Hood What can old Men do? ii, Love will not clip him, Maids will not lip him. 1871 Rossetti Poems, Eden Bower xix, Lip me and listen. 1888 Harper's Mag. Dec. 116 With the traders' wives made merry, Lipped the young and mocked the old. |
c. transf. Of water: To kiss, to lap.
| 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 11 The dying ebb..faintly lipp'd The flat granite. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Good for Nothing II. 61 Her cargo was..stowed away by deck and hold, till the waters lipped the gunwale. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. i, When the waxing element lips..but a single pebble of the founder's name. 1877 L. Morris Epic Hades ii. 110 The clear cold crystal of a mossy pool Lipped the soft emerald marge. 1889 Herring & Ross Irish Cousin II. ii. iv. 34 The murmur of the sea, slightly lipping the rocks. |
| absol. 1875 Blackmore A. Lorraine III. ix. 149 It did not lip, or lap, or ripple,..as all well-meaning rivers do. |
2. a. To pronounce with the lips only; to murmur softly.
b. To take upon one's lips, to utter (?
obs.); (
slang) to sing (a song).
| 1789 G. Parker Life's Painter 113 But come, I'll lip ye a chaunt. 1799 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. III. 353 Sir John lipt us the favourite chaunt of Jerry Abershaw's ‘Ye scamps [etc.].’ 1818 Keats Endym. i. 965 Salt tears were coming when I heard my name Most fondly lipp'd. 1840 Lytton Pilgr. Rhine v, The..fame..is lipped by the Babel of the..world. 1861 Temple Bar I. 169 A respectable British Bacchus..lipping soft lyrics to the blushing Ariadne at his side. 1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders III. xiii. 274 ‘Ah, I thought my memory didn't deceive me!’ he lipped silently. 1893 ‘B. Abbotsford’ But 74, I lipped ‘Good-morning’ to him. 1896 Punch 11 Jan. 15/1 There's Arnold and there's Morris, both can lip the laureate line. |
c. To insult, abuse, be impudent to (someone).
dial. or
colloq.| 1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 93 He lipt mi rarely. 1902 Eng. Dial. Dict. III. 618/1 He's lipt mi as Ah was never lipt afoor. 1941 Penguin New Writing III. 65 Young Ernie was lippin' me just before you come in. 1972 A. Draper Death Penalty ii. 18 If anyone lips you, just swallow it. |
3. (Chiefly
Sc.)
a. intr. Of water, etc.: To rise to, cover, or flow over the lip or brim of a vessel. Also with
in,
over. Also of the vessel: To have the water, etc. flowing over its brim or edge.
| 1703 D. Williamson Serm. bef. Gen. Assembly Edin. 49 The wrath of God lipping in over their Souls. 1839 R. M. M'Cheyne in Mem. (1872) 334 It [your joy] will be like a bowl lipping over. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 231 To carry [the waterpail] with the water lipping at the edge. 1883 ― Treas. Isl. iv. xvii, The gunwale was lipping astern. |
b. trans. To serve as a lip or margin to.
| 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xx. (1852) 478 Oval basins of coral⁓work just lipping the surface of the sea. 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley II. xviii. 305 The margin..instead of being rough and rocky, lips the pool with gentleness. |
† c. To overlay the lip or edge of (a vessel).
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 722 With the hornes are made drinking Cups, and for that purpose the richer sort of people do edge or lip them ouer with siluer and gold. |
d. To notch on the lip or edge.
| 1821 Blackw. Mag. IX. 323 That broth pot ladle, sorely lipped, and riven. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth viii, It were worth lipping a good blade, before wrong were offered to it. |
e. intr. Path. Of a bone: To form a lip or morbid outgrowth at the extremity. Also of a casting: To have an irregular projection at the edge.
| 1891 Pall Mall G. 14 May 3/1 When a statue is cast in several pieces and one of the pieces ‘lips’. 1894, 1897 [see lipping vbl. n. 1 b]. |
f. trans. Golf. To drive the ball just to the lip or edge of (a hole).
| 1899 Daily News 24 Apr. 10/6 At the fourteenth Mr. B. again lipped the hole and lost. |
g. Sc. To fill the interstices of (a wall) up to the lips or face.
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 115 Walls..may frequently be made either more durable, or more ornamental, by being dashed, lipped, or harled with lime. 1845 Statist. Acc. Scot. X. 307 He has built stone dikes of more than 9 miles in length lipped and pointed with lime. |
▪ III. † lip, v.2 Obs. [Of obscure origin: cf. lop v.] trans. To cut off (the head of an animal); to cut short, prune (a root); to shear (a sheep).
| c 1420 Avow. Arth. lxv, Sone the hed fro the hals Hit lyputt fulle euyn. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 21 Lightly to barbe and pluck off with a sarcling hook, the beards or strings of the root; that being thus nipped and lipped..they might [etc.]. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 608 Their sheepe bring foorth twice in a yeare, and are likewise twice lipped. |
▪ IV. lip obs. form of
leap v.