▪ I. tip, n.1
(tɪp)
Forms: 5–6 typpe, typ, 6–7 tippe, 7 tipp; 6– tip.
[In 15th c. typ, typpe, the former = MLG., MDu., LG., Du., EFris. tip, MHG. zipf, Da., Norw. tip, Sw. tipp, all = ‘point, extreme end, very top’. Not known in OE., ON., OS., or OHG.; but perhaps cognate with tip(p)en, tip v.1, though the connexion of sense is not clear. The modern cognate langs. have in the same sense a derivative form:—*tippul, MDu., Du., MLG., LG. tippel, MHG., Ger. zipfel.
(So far as is known, tip has no etymological connexion with top; but the proximity of form and relative quality of sound in the two words have caused tip to be felt as denoting a thinner or more delicate top; cf. drip, drop, chip, chop, also tip-top.)]
1. a. The slender extremity or top of a thing; esp. the pointed or rounded end of anything long and slender; the top, summit, apex, very end.
(The earlier existence of the n. is evidenced by the derivs. tipping c 1325, tipped or tipt and tip-toe c 1386.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 494/2 Typpe, or lappe [MS. S. typ or lap] of the ere, pinnula. Ibid., Typ, of the nese. 1526 Tindale Luke xvi. 24 Sende Lazarus that he maye depe the tippe off his fynger in water and cole my tonge. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xxiv. 4 Dauid stode vp, & cut of the typpe of Sauls garment quyetly. 1568 C. Watson Polyb. 68 This hill..hauing a plain on y⊇ very tippe, twelue miles in compasse. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 In typs of billows soom ships wyth danger ar hanging. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. ii. 30 Where the Raine-bow in the Horizon Doth pitch her tips. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 8 The Pole-star..in the tip of the little Beares taile. 1753 Franklin Lett., etc. Wks. 1840 VI. 179 That spout..was an inverted cone, with the tip or apex towards the sea. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 175 The tip of the horn is used by the makers of knife-handles. 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Pl. xii. 280 Long narrow leaves gradually widening towards their tips. 1881 ― in Life & Lett. (1887) I. 98 How many and what admirably well adapted movements the tip of a root possesses. |
† b. fig. Utmost point, extremity; highest point, apex, crown. Obs. (Cf. also tipe n.1)
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 338 On oðer half, moni mon abit to schriuen him uort þe nede tippe. [But this may be tip v.1 1.] 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 20 Not one amongst twenty wyll discouer, eyther declare there scelorous secretes: yet with fayre flatteringe wordes, money, and good chere, I haue attained to the typ by such as the meanest of them hath wandred these xiii. yeares. 1581 Rich Farewell (Shaks. Soc.) 47 From the tippe and heeght of degnitie, you have not spared..to become a subject of all mishaps. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 220 The prince and soueraigne being the tippe of nobilitie. 1626 B. Jonson Staple of N. ii. v, He is..my Chiefe, the Point, Tip, Top, and Tuft of all our family. |
† c. Old name for an anther, or summit of a stamen. Cf. apex n. 6 a. Obs.
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1787) I. 133 Polycarpon. Allseed... Chives 3... Tips roundish. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 619 Esteemed of old but tips and chives. |
2. a. A small piece of metal, leather, etc., attached or fitted on to something so as to form a serviceable end; as the buckle of a girdle (obs.), a ferrule, the leather pad on the point of a billiard-cue, a protecting cap or plate for the toe of a shoe, etc.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 494/2 Typpe, of a gyrdylle, mordaculum. 1545 Rates of Customs c viij, Typpes for hornes the C. iiii. d. 1570 Levins Manip. 140/16 Y⊇ Tippe of a staffe, ferretum. 1801 Southey Thalaba vi. xvi, There hung a horn beside the gate,..He took the ivory tip, And through the brazen-mouth he breath'd. 1840 H. Mozley Let. 11 Feb. in D. Mozley Newman Family Lett. (1962) III. 86 They danced very prettily, though he had ‘tips’. 1873 Bennett & Cavendish Billiards 9 About 1807 the leathern tip [of the cue] was invented. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Tip... 3. (Shoemaking.) A protecting cap at the toe end of a shoe. 4. The nozzle of a gas-burner. 5. A ferrule; as the tip of a bayonet scabbard. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 15 The metal iridium..is wanted for making the tips of gold pens. |
b. Costume. The end of a tail or fur, or of a feather, as used in trimming, etc.
| 1681 Lond. Gaz. No. 1649/8 A large Muff of Sable Tipps for a Woman. 1886 Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Tip..3. Millinery: The end of a feather in trimming. 1904 Daily News 25 Mar. 7 Her hat was set at an alarming angle, and its nodding ‘tips’ followed her every movement. |
c. Angling. The topmost joint of a fishing-rod.
| 1891 Cent. Dict. s.v., A tip made of split bamboo is called a quarter-section tip, and by English makers a rent and glued tip. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 431/1 Putting the bait tip on a ten-ounce split bamboo, I tied a spoon and a flight of swivels to the line. |
d. Hat-making. The upper part of the crown of a hat; a stiff lining pasted in this part.
| 1864 Webster, Tip,..5. The lining of the top of a hat;—so called among hatters. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Tip... A circular piece of scale or paste board pasted on the inside of a hat crown to stiffen it. |
e. Used in pl. to denote the leaf-buds used in tea-making, preceded by an adj. or trade-name to designate a particular brand of tea.
| 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 8/1 Golden tips. 1952 ‘W. Cooper’ Struggles of Albert Woods ii. iv. 98 He said: ‘I hope you'll like my tea.’.. ‘What sort is it?’.. ‘Ty-phoo tips.’ 1978 Listener 16 Nov. 642/3 (caption) Come back to my pad, man, I've got some amazing PG tips. |
f. Formerly, a band of (gold, etc.) paper round a cigarette at the end held by the lips; now, = filter n. 3 c. Cf. gold-tipped adj. s.v. gold1 10 a.
| 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. v. 107 Cigarettes with gold-leaf tips. 1981 Times 25 July 3/8 Filter cigarettes were..assumed to be safer than those without tips. |
3. A thin flat brush, made of camel's or squirrel's hair (originally the tip of a squirrel's tail) fixed between two pieces of cardboard glued together, used for laying gold-leaf, as in bookbinding; also, a piece of wood covered with flannel, similarly used.
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 801 The instruments used in gilding are the following: A cushion... A knife... The tip, which consists of a squirrel's tail with the hairs cut short. It is used for taking up whole leaves of gold, and applying them to the surface to be gilt. 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 117 (Carver and Gilder) The brush with which the gold is applied to the work; this is called a tip, and is formed by putting a few fine hairs between two pieces of card. 1888 Arts & Crafts Catal. 85 Finally, the gold (gold leaf) is applied by a pad of cotton wool, or a flat thin brush called a ‘tip’. |
4. a. A light horse-shoe, covering only the front half of the hoof. b. = foothold 2.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 172 On turning horses out to grass, it is common to remove their heavy shoes, and furnish them with light ones, or tips as they are called. 1903 U.S. Dept. of Agr., Spec. Rep. Dis. Horse 404 A shoe, called a ‘tip’, is made by cutting off both branches at the center of the foot and drawing the ends down to an edge. The tapering of the branches should begin at the toe. |
5. Phrases. a. from tip to toe: from top to bottom (more usually from top to toe: see top n.). † b. in the tip of the mode: in the height of fashion (cf. 1 b). † c. neither tip nor toe: not a particle or trace, none at all. d. on (or at) the tip of one's tongue: on the point of being, or ready to be, spoken. So (rarely) at the tips of one's fingers, ready to be performed or executed. e. arse over tip: see arse n. 1 b.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 520 There is neither tippe nor toe remaining in it [Leicester] of the name Ratæ. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 79. 2/2 She..will always be in the Tip of the Mode. 1722 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 184 She had arguments at the tip of her tongue. 1823 Lockhart Reg. Dalton viii. vii, Out with the word, man—it's on the tip. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxx. (1856) 263, I give in detail my dress... Here it is, from tip to toe. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts i, All the modern accomplishments at the tips of her delicate fingers. |
6. attrib. and Comb., as tip-drip, tip-eared adj., tip-end (also fig.: cf. 1 b); spec. in Aeronaut. with reference to the extremity of an aerofoil, as tip loss, tip speed, tip stall, tip stalling, tip tank. tip-foot, a form of club-foot in which the heel is drawn up; tip-paper, a stiff kind of paper used for lining hat-crowns (cf. 2 d); tip-stretcher, an apparatus for stretching hat-crowns; tip-touch v. trans., to touch with the tips of one's fingers; tip-worm, the larva of a gall-fly (Cecidomyia vaccinii) which infests the buds of the American cranberry (Cent. Dict.).
| 1895 E. S. Phelps Chapters fr. Life vi. 116 How dainty was the *tip-drip of the icicles from the big elm-bough. |
| 1880 Mem. J. Legge 258 Is man..the derivative of tailed and *tip-eared progenitors? |
| 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 179 The *Tip-end of an Horn with its Tip downwards. 1803 Fessenden Poet. Petition 6 Discover'd worlds within the pale Of tip end of a tadpole's tail. 1885 Century Mag. XXIX. 190/2, I mean to flirt with him to the very tip end of my powers. |
| 1857 Dunglison Med. Lex. s.v. Kyllosis, Talipes equinus,..*Tip-foot. |
| 1938 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLII. 380 The engine r.p.m. can with advantage be increased until the tip speed of the airscrew approaches the speed of sound, at which speed there are serious *tip losses which reduce the thrust. Thin bladed metal airscrews show less tip loss due to high speed than the thicker sections. 1969 Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iv. 15 Tip loss, loss of lift at the tip of an aerofoil associated with the formation of tip vortices. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Tip-paper, a variety of paper of a rigid quality, made for lining the tips or insides of hat-crowns. |
| 1911 R. M. Pierce Dict. Aviation 231 *Tip speed, the oscillatory speed of the tip of a reciprocating wing; the up-and-down velocity of a wing-tip in flapping flight. 1925 Flight 22 Oct. 686/2 (caption) The ‘Autogiro’... Note how the high tip speed of the windmill beat our photographer. 1969 Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) v. 20 Tip speed, the mean angular velocity of the rotor multiplied by the rotor radius. |
| 1946 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. VI. 95 The phenomenon of *tip stall is brought about by spanwise drift in the boundary layer over a swept wing. |
| 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 205, I consider wing tip slots as the most efficient means known at present to prevent *tip stalling of highly tapered wings. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., s.v., Eickemeyer's power *tip-stretcher is shown in Fig. 6470. |
| 1952 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Apr. 5 First conceived in 1938, *tiptanks became standard as auxiliary fuel containers for the early-day F-80 jet fighters. 1977 R.A.F. Yearbk. 11/1 Max range with tip tanks, 900 mls..at 35,000 ft. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 523 Must I *tiptouch it with my nails? 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) i. 6 Tricksie with her pretty little hand tip-touching the black-and-blue spot. |
▪ II. tip, n.2
Also 5 tippe.
[app. f. tip v.1]
An act of tipping, a light but distinct impact, blow, stroke, or hit; a noiseless tap; a significant touch. † tip for tap = tit for tat: see tit n.2, and cf. tap for tap in quot. 1597 s.v. tap n.2 1. foul tip (Baseball), a foul hit in which the ball is only grazed: cf. foul a. 14.
| a 1466 Chas. Dk. Orleans Poems (Roxb.) 7 Strokis grete, not tippe nor tapp. 1575 Gascoigne Adv. F. I. Wks. ii. 249 Much greater is the wrong that rewardeth euill for good, than that which requiteth [pr. requireth] tip for tap. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 154 Not to bragge of any thing ouer arrogantly, not to answere tip for tap [L. non responsare]. 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 488 He that abused his parents.., that gaue them but a tip, or a reuiling word. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Tip,..a smart but light blow. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 695 A smart tip of the whip will take the courage out of him. 1889 Century Mag. Oct. 837/1 Wont to wear a small piece of rubber in the mouth as a protection to the teeth from foul tips. |
▪ III. tip, n.3
[f. tip v.4 sense 2 (which occurs c 1700).]
a. A small present of money given to an inferior, esp. to a servant or employee of another for a service rendered or expected; a gratuity, a douceur: see tip v.4 2. Also, a present of money given to a schoolboy by an older person.
| 1755 J. Barebones in Connoisseur No. 70. 417, I assure you I have laid out every farthing..in tips to his servants. c 1810 W. Hickey Mem. (1960) ii. 38, I secured a handsome tip, the Westminster phrase for a present of cash. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., To take the tip, is to receive a bribe in any shape; and they say of a person who is known to be corruptible, that he will stand the tip. 1818 Sporting Mag. II. 165 A handsome tip was demanded at the gate. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Doubts & F. i, Sir Harry was liberal in his ‘tips’, and consequently a great favourite of Phillips [the waiter]. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xvi, What money is better bestowed than that of a schoolboy's tip? 1877 Black Green Past. xxx, Two sovereigns was the least tip to be slipped into the hands of the custom-house officer. Mod. The porter will expect a tip. |
b. attrib. and Comb.
| 1813 Sporting Mag. XLI. 106 The tip-money, or usual fee to the purchaser's coachman, upon the sale of horses. 1899 Morrow Bohem. Paris 149 After the bill is paid, the tip-box is supposed to receive two sous for Marie and Augustine. |
▪ IV. tip, n.4 colloq. or slang.
[perh. from tip v.1, with the notion of tipping or lightly touching the arm or elbow of a person by way of a private hint, or from tip v.4 in the phrase to tip (any one) a wink.]
a. A piece of useful private or special information communicated by an expert; a friendly hint; spec. ‘an advice concerning betting or a Stock-Exchange speculation intended to benefit the recipient’ (Farmer Slang); also, a hint as to special points thought likely to come up in an examination; hence transf. a special device, ‘wrinkle’, ‘dodge’.
The simple word was prob. in use before 1845.
| 1845 Athenæum Oct. 964/2 Xenophon's Expedition of Cyrus, Books i. ii. iii. Translated literally... Of such books as this (‘tip-books’ as school-boys call them,)..we doubt the value. 1865 Daily Tel. 4 Dec. 4/4 Dejected prophets who have never yet made a single lucky political ‘tip’. 1867 F. Francis Angling i. (1880) 44 A tip from a good man on the spot is most useful. 1868 Morning Star 10 Mar., The evil of cramming and of ‘tips’ will be increased by the new scheme, instead of being diminished. 1886 Q. Rev. July 175 To keep the Foreign Office promptly supplied with every commercial ‘tip’ that can be of use to British trade. 1888 A. S. Swan Doris Cheyne i, My father was a stockbroker, and he taught me all the tips he knew. 1899 T. M. Ellis Three Cat's-eye Rings 21 Offering her good tips for sporting events. Mod. A successful crammer, clever at giving ‘tips’ for an examination. |
b. the straight tip: see quots.
| 1871 Punch 26 Aug. 78/2 Honest advice as to wagering will henceforth be known as the straight tip. 1873 Slang Dict. s.v., The ‘straight tip’ is the tip which comes direct from the owner or trainer of a horse. Of late years a ‘straight tip’ means a direct hint on any subject. 1879 M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot xxxviii, That's a kind of thing we never tell. We got the straight tip; that's all you need know. 1894 Doyle S. Holmes 7 Let me have the straight tip and you won't be a loser. |
c. transf. Something with respect to which a ‘tip’ is given; e.g. the probable winner in a race.
| 1873 Besant & Rice Little Girl ii. xxiii, He had on some..occasions taken a long shot, backed a tip or a fancy. 1886 St. Stephen's Rev. 13 Mar. 11/2 Florin [racehorse], who was a great tip, performed most moderately. |
d. to miss one's tip: orig. in circus slang (see quot. 1897); hence, to fail in one's aim or object.
| 1847 Punch 9 Oct. 138/1 You attack him for making himself conspicuous at the sale of Shakspeare's house. You seem to think he has missed his tip. 1854 Dickens Hard T. i. vi, Jupe [a circus clown] has missed his tip very often, lately... Was short in his leaps and bad in his tumbling... In a general way that's missing his tip. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iv, One..runs right at the leaders, as though he'd ketch 'em by the heads, only luck'ly for him he misses his tip, and comes over a heap o' stones first. 1887 W. Westall Two Millions xx. I. 175 One of those fellows who have missed their tip somehow, and come down in life. 1897 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, To miss the tip, (circus),..in exhibitions it has a special application to the performer not understanding or catching the tip or word which indicates that he must act. |
e. Comb., as tip-book, tip-sheet (orig. U.S.), tip-slinger (Austral. slang).
| 1845 Tip book [see sense a above]. |
| 1945 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Feb. 12 (caption) Tip sheet. 1955 Sci. News Let. 20 Aug. 126/3 Tip sheets may feature an electrocardiogram of the long-shot horse's heart before long. 1972 Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 18 A tip sheet on ways of fitting in smoothly in America has been handed to the 1,000 Asian refugees accepted by the United States. 1983 Times 11 Nov. 16/6 A and C Black..enjoyed the day's most spectacular gain—up 58p to 321p on a tip-sheet comment. |
| 1926 ‘J. Doone’ Timely Tips for New Australians 24 Tipslinger, the slang term for race-course tipster. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Aug. 49/1 By their conversation most of them were tipslingers or urgers. |
▪ V. tip, n.5
[f. tip v.2, esp. senses 1 b, 2, 3.]
I. Skittles. (Cf. tip v.2 1 b.)
† 1. The knocking over of a pin by another which falls or rolls against it, as distinct from knocking one down by the immediate impact of the bowl. In some forms of the game applied also to other modes of knocking down, distinct from bowling.
| 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 54 Down they [nine-pins] all come at a tip and throw. 1694 S. Johnson Notes Past. Let. Bp. Burnet i. 39 That is a cleaverer Tip..than taking out the Middle Pin, and throwing down none of the rest. 1773 A. Jones (title) The Art of Playing at Skittles... Shewing Both the Old and the New Methods of forming General Goes and Tips. Ibid. 20 The greatest go that can be had is 40, or 20 at the bowl and the same at the tip; the least go must be 1. |
| (b) 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. vii. §10 Dutch-pins. The player first stands at a certain distance from the frame, and throws his bowl at the pins..; afterwards he approaches the frame and makes his tipp by casting the bowl among the pins. 1819 Pantologia X. s.v. Skittles, The bowler must stand to take his tip with one foot upon the spot where the bowl stopped. |
II. The act of tilting and derived uses.
2. An act of tipping up or tilting, or the fact of being tilted; inclination. (Cf. tip v.2 2.)
| 1849 Cupples Green Hand viii. (1856) 72 Back again it [a shark] came..towards us, till it sank with a light tip, and a circle or two on the blue water. 1862 Grove Corr. Phys. Forces (ed. 4) 138 The ‘tip’, or the raising of the weight, is performed by the electrical repulsion and attraction. Mod. Give the cask a slight tip. |
3. A place or erection where wagons or trucks of coal, etc. are tipped and their contents discharged into the hold of a vessel, or into a cart, etc. b. A wagon or truck from which coal, etc. is tipped; short for tip-cart, tip-car (Cent. Dict.). (Cf. tip v.2 3.)
| 1862 Castlemaine (Australia) Daily News 2 July, A young man..met with an accident whilst working the ‘tip’ at the railway embankment, behind Bruce's Foundry. 1885 Sir J. Pearson in Law Times Rep. LII. 546/1 There is a spring..close to the bottom of the tip as it at present stands. 1889 Daily News 19 July 2/8 There were seventeen fixed tips in the dock..for coal loading, and foundations had been laid for two more tips. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., Tip, a lofty erection of wood and iron placed upon the quay wall at the side of the deck, and under which ships are placed to receive their cargoes of coal... Tips1, screens or other arrangements upon which the mineral is upset from the tub or tram and conveyed into a waggon, cart, or boat. Tips2, ‘staiths’ or other erections with shoots into which the coal is emptied from waggons and then shot or tipped into the hold of the vessel. 1904 A. Griffiths 50 Years Public Service xii. 169 Long rows of trucks..were hauled up by steam power and run on to the ‘tips’. |
4. a. The mound or mass of rubbish, etc. that is tipped. b. A place or receptacle into which earth or rubbish is tipped or shot; a dumping-ground.
| 1863 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Tip,..the rubbish thrown from a quarry. 1890 Lancet 14 June 1311/2 Near to the affected dwellings is the town ‘tip’ for refuse. 1901 Daily News 5 Jan. 6/5 From the temporary termination of the Goldsworth tip to the western side of Brookwood station the work is as yet one of preparation only. 1910 Times 18 Jan. 3/1 The defendant corporation had the use of the tip, and their carts were..crossing the field..to the tip. |
5. Comb.: see tip- in comb.
Add: [II.] [2.] b. In fig. phr. a tip of the hat (or cap), an acknowledgement or mark of respect, in recognition of achievement, thanks, etc. See *tip v.2 2 b. N. Amer.
| 1976 U.S. News & World Rep. 7 June 45/1 For King Juan Carlos I, his visit to the U.S. is more than a tip of the hat to the American Bicentennial. 1977 Washington Post 13 Jan. 14/3 A tip of the hat to the friendly people who make the skies so friendly for United Air Lines. 1985 Los Angeles Times 30 Sept. iii. 10/2 Grich's saving dive earned him a standing ovation, a curtain call from the fans after the game, even a tip of the cap from the usually undemonstrative Ryan. |
[4.] c. colloq. An untidy or disorderly place (esp. a room).
| 1983 Guardian 26 Sept. 10/1 It's a bloody tip, this house—they never do anything to it—it's unbearable. 1984 P. Barker Blow your House Down xiii. 81 She was anything but pleased: the living-room was a tip. 1989 Bunty 4 Nov. 2 ‘Bunty—your room's a tip! It's even worse than mine!’ ‘Hum? I suppose it could do with a tidy up!’ |
▪ VI. † tip, n.6 slang. Obs.
[Perh. from tip v.2 sense 4 or 5; but possibly shortened from tipple n.]
Intoxicating liquor; a draught of liquor. Also in comb. tip-merry a., merry with liquor, slightly intoxicated.
| 1612 Burford Reg. in Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Collect. I. 85 [One man is described as unfit to keep an alehouse] because he will be tipmerrie himself. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Bub, Rum-bub, c. very good Tip [in 1725 New Cant. Dict., ‘Tipple’]. Ibid. s.v., A Tub of good Tip, (for Tipple) a Cask of strong Drink. 1717 Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood vi, (Sc.) She ne'er..kept dow'd tip within her waws. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 144 Miss (with a Glass in her Hand). Hold your Tongue, Mr. Neverout, don't speak in my Tip. |
▪ VII. tip, v.1
Forms: 6 tippe, 7– tip. pa. tense and pple. tipped, tipt.
[ME. (?) and 16th c. tippe agrees in form and sense with Du., LG., mod.Ger. tippen, Sw. tippa to strike, poke or touch smartly or lightly; of obscure origin, but perhaps from the same Teut. root as tip n.1, q.v. Of this tip n.2 is app. a derivative. It is not certain that senses 2 and 3 belong to the same word; sense 2 might be directly from tiptoe; but cf. ON. tifa-sk ‘to move the feet quickly, to trip’, which Falk and Torp incline to refer to the same root.]
1. a. trans. To strike or hit smartly but lightly; to give a slight blow, knock, or touch to; to tap noiselessly.
[Quot. a 1225, in tip n.1 1 b, may perh. belong here with the sense ‘until the need or necessity strikes or hits’.]
| 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. v. 57 b, One Cromis tipped of his head [v. Fab. i. 104 Huic Cromis..Decutit ense caput.]: his head cut off streight way Vpon the Altar fell. 1579 Gosson Apol. Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 64 Libels, which are but clay, and rattle on mine armour, or tippe me on the shinnes. a 1607 J. Raynolds Proph. Haggai x. (1649) 114 To keep them [their sheep] in by threatning them, and a little tipping them. 1708 Reply to Bickerstaff Detected in Swift's Wks. (1755) II. i. 166 A third rogue tips me by the elbow, and wonders, how I have the conscience [etc.]. 1840 Thackeray Bedford-Row Conspir. ii, [He] felt himself suddenly tipped on the shoulder. |
b. Cricket. To hit (a ball) lightly. Also spec., to glance or touch with the edge of the bat.
| 1816 W. Lambert Cricketer's Guide (ed. 3) iii. 43 It is..to such [balls] as are just tipped with the edge of the Bat..that he [sc. long-stop] will have to attend. 1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field x. 185 Put in two batsmen..to tip and run. 1858 ‘G. Forrest’ Playground ix. 132 If you only tip the [fast] ball, it will go far enough without giving you the trouble of striking it. |
(b) tip-and-run, cricket in which the batsman must run for every hit; also transf. in attrib. use, esp. to designate short, sudden attacks in war.
| 1891 Grace Cricket viii. 236 S. M. J. Woods and G. McGregor..almost played tip-and-run for a few overs. 1918 Chambers's Jrnl. June 477/2 Any dark night might see one of the enemy's favourite ‘tip-and-run’ dashes to sea. 1927 Rep. Commissioner Police Metropolis 1926 16 Stolen cars are used in..‘tip and run’ raids on jewellers' shops. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 26 The Italians, with their half-hearted enthusiasm and their ‘tip-and-run’ type of bombing. 1946 J. W. Day Harvest Adventure xvi. 273 At Mersea Island..we exposed the Committee's folly in placing a machinery dump within a hundred yards of the sea and tip-and-run raiders. |
c. U.S. Sport. To hit (a ball, puck, etc.) into the net or goal with a light touch or push. Freq. const. in(to).
| 1958 G. F. Pinholster Encycl. Basketball ix. 111 The player with the best position tries to tip in the goal as the other two players block for him. 1963 F. A. Lindeborg How to play and teach Basketball vi. 131 The tip-in shot is used when a player has the opportunity to tip an offensive rebound up into the air again and into the basket... The shooter times his jump so that he is able to tip the ball with the fingers of his right hand. 1968 [see rap v.1 2 a]. |
2. intr. To step lightly; to trip; to walk mincingly, or on tiptoe; also fig.
| 1819 Blackw. Mag. V. 401/2 The shortened notes more trip⁓somely tipped over than in the modern airs. 1881 L. B. Walford Dick Netherby v. 49 The sicht o' her..tippin' up to her chair..garred me lauch sae. 1890 Harper's Mag. Aug. 390/2 He stopped breathlessly, and then tipped on cautiously, keeping the encircling line of bushes between him and the carriage. |
3. Mus. (See tipping vbl. n.3 b.)
4. ‘To toss, as carded hair, so that it will fall in tufts’ (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895): see tipping vbl. n.3 c.
▪ VIII. tip, v.2
Forms: α. 4–7 type, 5–6, 9 dial. tipe (taɪp); infl. 5 tipen, 6 typed. β. 6– tip; infl. 7 tippeth, tipt, 7–8 tip'd, 7– tipped, 8 tipp'd; 7–9 tipping.
[Origin and form-history obscure: known first in form tȳpe (14th c.), tīpe, in literary use as late as 1632 (sense 8), and still dialectal from Cumbria to Shropsh. and E. Anglia. Tip with short vowel appears in 1581 (sense 7).
The ME. verb may have been tīpe, tipte, tipt (cf. keep, kept, kept), and the short i of the past have been later taken over into the present (perh. under the influence of tip v.1, though not necessarily so).]
I. Transitive senses.
1. a. To overthrow, knock, or cast down, cause to fall or tumble; to overturn, upset; to throw down (off a support, out of a vehicle, etc.) by effort or accidentally.
| α 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 506, & if I..type doun ȝonder toun when hit turned were. a 1400–50 Alexander 1303 (Dubl. MS.) Sone þe toppe of þe toure he typys [Ashmole MS. tiltis] in þe water. Ibid. 1418 Som..Typed torrettes doune, towres on hepes. 1530 Palsgr. 758/2, I type over, I over⁓throwe, or overwhelme, je renuerse. 1570 Levins Manip. 141/47 To Type a ball, profligere. 1862 C. C. Robinson Leeds Gloss. 442 Type that box off o' that cart. 1887 South Chesh. Gloss. s.v., Nai, sey as yo dunna tipe that can o'er wi' yur foot. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. |
| β [1567 in tip v.1 1 may possibly belong here.] |
| a 1680 Butler Rem., Panegyric on Sir J. Denham 26 No China Cupboard rudely overthrown; Nor Lady tip'd, by being accosted, down. a 1715 Burnet Own Time an. 1677 (1823) II. 107 Here would be a precedent to tip down so many lords at a time. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 77 They..tipped me into the dam, crying, Lie there, parson, till tomorrow! 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. ix. (1809) 106, I tipp'd my nag over a broken place in the wall. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 268 [She] tipped the pot over. 1880 M. Fitzgibbon Trip to Manitoba xii. 138 A wonder we were not tipped over the horse's back. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 190/1 It would be far from the truth to state that a canoe cannot be upset. Under certain conditions it is easier tipped than a boat. 1909 Nation 6 Mar. 851/2 Caricatures of fat Jews tipped out of motor cars. |
b. Skittles. † (a) In the older game, said of a pin: To knock down another by falling or rolling against it, as distinguished from the direct action of the bowl. Obs. (b) In some forms of the game, applied to other modes of knocking down a pin.
| 1679 A. Lovell Judic. Univ. 237, I have carried four and tipped six Pins. 1773 A. Jones Art Skittle Playing 16 The next in height and value [to the king or middle pin] were the four corner pins..these were called Dukes, Lords, and Nobles... These four counted for three each when tipped by the King or his consequents, but if by the bowl or any other from it, either of their own height or lower, they only counted for two each. The remaining four were called Common,..and counted for two each when tipped by the King, but by any other only one each. 1884 Sat. Rev. 18 Oct. 494/2 The skill was to hit over the King, and make him ‘tip’ as many pins as possible over with him, as thus the greatest number of points was scored. |
| (b) 17.. Rules & Instr. for playing at Skittles (Sat. Rev. 18 Oct. 1884, 498/2), Care should be taken in Tipping not to jump into the Frame immediately after, as in this case he is not allowed any of the Pins he Tips. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v., Tipping, at these games, is slightly touching the tops of the pins with the bowl. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. vii. §9 In playing at skittles, there is a double exertion; one by bowling, and the other by tipping: the first is performed at a given distance, and the second standing close to the frame upon which the pins are placed, and throwing the ball through the midst of them. 1819 Pantologia X. s.v. Skittles, When the learner is to tip for four upon game, he should choose the eighth, seventh, sixth, and fourth pins. |
2. a. To cause to assume a slanting or sloping position; to raise, push, or move into such a position; to incline, tilt. Often with up.
| 1624 Heywood Gunaik. v. 233 Shee tipped up the table and flung down all that was upon it. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast. vii. 16 We hove in upon our chain, and..tipped our anchor, and stood out to sea. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. Eng., I waked..with the belief that some one was tipping up my berth. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 479 How much the south pole will be tipped up—how the axis will exactly lie. 1894 Crockett Raiders 55 May Mischief seemed to incline her ear, tipping it a little to the side to listen. |
b. to tip the scales: to tilt or depress the scale of a balance by excess of weight; to turn the scale; also fig. Similarly to tip the balance, tip the beam.
| 1884 Harper's Mag. June 111/2 Single fish often tipping the scales at from five to seven pounds. 1893 St. Louis Globe-Democrat Oct., She tips the scales at 150 pounds. 1895 Funk Stand. Dict., To tip the beam. 1927 Observer 11 Dec. 13/3 The view which will tip the beam is that of a member who said [etc.]. 1956 People 13 May 8/8 In an effort to tip the balance, New Zealand began to take British shopgirls and hairdressers. 1972 Times 20 Oct. 8/7 This might be the beginning of a process where the balance might be ‘tipped’ from predominantly white to predominantly black. |
c. to tip one's hand(s) (or mitt): to disclose one's intentions inadvertently. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
| 1917 G. Ade Let. 8 July (1973) 67 For a time in the play it should appear that the plans of the smooth citizen are working out perfectly. He becomes confident and over reaches himself, ‘tips his hands’, so to speak. 1930 Sat. Even. Post 28 June 162/2 They've tipped their mitt. That guy's probably got a rod under his coat. 1938 New Republic 26 Oct. 331/1 That would be tipping her mitt too much. 1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xviii. 133 We couldn't very well oppose it without tipping our hand. 1979 Economist 17 Nov. 122/2 Mr Hunt will not tip his hand on the price at which he will buy more bullion. |
d. Bookbinding. to tip in, to attach a single leaf, often an illustration, to the neighbouring leaf of a book by a thin line of paste down its inner margin.
| 1926 S. Unwin Truth about Publishing v. 131 Should an extra page..be needed, it may have to be separately printed and specially ‘tipped’ or ‘pasted in’ as a frontispiece often is. 1949 Melcher & Larrick Printing & Promotion Handbk. 289/2 The leaf to be tipped in is first given a narrow coating of paste along its inner edge. 1966 H. Williamson Methods Bk. Design (ed. 2) xix. 322 So far as placing the plates appropriately in the text is concerned, the best method is to tip them into the section. 1978 W. White in W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. III. 724 Tipped in here is a clipping from a magazine, with a notation in the margin in WW's hand. |
3. To empty out (a wagon, cart, truck, or the like, or its contents) by tilting it up; to dump.
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 354/1 On this stage the waggons are run, and the contents tipped with great rapidity. 1842 Ibid. V. 85/2 The sub-contractor..had..to keep the road in repair, and tip or turn the dirt. 1895 Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 157/1 The Holyhead breakwater..was constructed by tipping into the harbour some 6,000,000 tons of large stones. 1910 Times 18 Jan. 3/1 A piece of land which was used for the purpose of tipping rubbish. |
† 4. fig. (from 2). To render unsteady, make drunk, intoxicate. slang. Obs. (Cf. tip n.6)
| 1605 [see tip v.3]. 1633 Marmion Antiquary iv. i, Your master is almost tipt already. 1708 [see tipped ppl. a.2]. |
5. To drink off, ‘toss off’. slang and dial.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Tip it all off, Drink it all off at a Draught. c 1765 T. Flloyd Tartarian T. (1785) 46/2 A large glassful, which I tipped off. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 49 As good claret as ever was tip'd. 1850 P. Crook War of Hats 47 Who tip sly drams, while feigning to cry ‘Sweep’. 1878 Cumberland Gloss. s.v., Tipe 't up, man, we've plenty mair. |
6. To dispose of or kill (a person). Also fig. Cf. sense 10 and to bump off s.v. bump v.1 1 c. slang.
| 1920 W. Camp Football without Coach vii. 129 Time after time methods such as these have ‘tipped off’ keen football players and have spelled the failure of good plays. 1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 11/5 Jake's sort o' done me a good turn, getting himself tipped off. |
II. Intransitive senses.
† 7. To be overthrown, to fall. Obs. (exc. as in 8).
| c 1400 Death & Life 194 in Percy Folio III. 64 Trees tremble for feare, and tipen to the ground. 1581 A. Hall Iliad viii. 142 He thrild them through with deadly wounds, they down to ground do tip. |
8. To fall by overbalancing; to be overturned or upset; to tumble or topple over.
| α 1530 Palsgr. 758/2 His carte typed over [se renuersa] agaynst a banke. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 558 When they are ready, with catching at babies in the water, to type over. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Tipe, to kick up or fall headlong, from being top-heavy. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. |
| β 1620 Sanderson Serm. I. 161 Like a ship all sail and no ballast, that tippeth over with every blast. 1890 W. A. Wallace Only a Sister 325 Over tips table, candle, and cloth and all. |
9. To assume a slanting or sloping position; to incline, tilt; e.g. of a balance; now esp. of a cart, a plank, etc. (usu. with up), to tilt up at one end and down at the other so that anything supported by it is (or may be) thrown off or emptied out.
| 1666 Bunyan Grace Ab. §175 Still my life hung in doubt before me, not knowing which way I should tip. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 125 They are made to tip like tumbrils. 1849 Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. xxxi, His dog-cart..tipped back last year..and lifted the horse in the air. 1864 Bowen Logic ix. (1870) 301 Perhaps I do not know how the table tips. 1885 Law Times LXXVIII. 391/2 As the cart was being unloaded, it unfortunately tipped up, and one of the heavy flagstones fell. |
10. to tip off, also simply to tip, or tip (over) the perch: to die. slang or dial.
| β a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To Tip off, to Dye. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. iii. i, If that great man should tip off, 'twould be an irreparable loss. 1735 Savage Progr. Divine 294 She, with broken heart, Tips off—poor soul! 1737 [see perch n.2 3 e]. 1808 Bentham Mem. & Corr. Wks. 1843 X. 444 What if you should happen to tip the perch before all the children are grown up? |
| α 1828 Craven Gloss., Tipe, ‘to tipe our’, to fall down, to swoon. ‘To tipe off’, to die. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. |
Senses 2 b–d in Dict. become 2 c–e. Add: [I.] [2.] b. to tip one's hat (or cap), to raise or touch one's hat in greeting, acknowledgement, or the like; also fig., to acknowledge or recognize achievements, etc. Freq. const. to. N. Amer.
| 1825 G. Jones Let. 31 Oct. in Sk. Naval Life (1829) I. 49 He carries a spy-glass, which he has frequently at his eye, and which he often drops suddenly, to tip his hat, and say something to the officer of the deck. 1881 I. M. Rittenhouse Jrnl. 21 June in Maud (1939) 18 Nearly ran over little WmSn at the P.O. and he solemnly tipped his hat. 1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. ii. 54 Never no shack up. Ah want dis tip-in love and tip yo' hat and walk out. 1957 H. Williamson Golden Virgin i. ix. 135 ‘The pleasure will be mine, sir,’ said Freddy, tipping his hat an eighth of an inch from behind. 1975 Business Week 28 Apr. 35/3 Rival insurance men in Tokyo tip their hats to Amos but wonder how well such a specialty business will wear. 1977 Washington Post 20 June d2/5 When he walked off the mound after striking out Butch Hobson to end the amazing eighth, he tipped his cap. 1990 Boston Globe 26 Oct. 58/6 Among the appetizers, we tipped our hat to the six-chili chili. |
▪ IX. tip, v.3
Pa. tense and pple. tipped, tipt (ˈtɪpɪd, tɪpt). Forms: 5–6 typpe, 7– tip. pa. tense 5 typpud, 5– tipped, 7– tipt (6 typte, 7 tip'd).
[f. tip n.1 But perhaps partly representing ON. typpa (Norw. typpa) to tip or top, and ON. typptr (Norw. typpt), tipped, topped.]
trans. To furnish with a tip; to put a tip on, or put something on at the tip (const. with); to form the tip of, or adorn at the tip.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 389/1 To typpe, cornutare. 1530 Palsgr. 758/2, I typpe a staffe with yron, je armoye. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 414 He that did tip stone iugges about the brimme, Met with a blacke pot, and that pot tip'd him. 1718 Pope Iliad vii. 501 Arose the golden chariot of the day, And tipp'd the mountains with a purple ray. 1728 ― Dunc. i. 142 [162] Quarto's, octavo's, shape the less'ning pyre; And last, a little Ajax tips the spire. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 37 The faint sun tipt the rising ground. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xix. 471 Steel..to tip the shares and ploughshoes. 1897 Flandrau Harvard Epîsodes 104 Two brilliant spots of pink tipped his high cheek-bones. |
b. Most freq. in pa. pple. (See also tipped ppl. a.1 2.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 32 His felawe hadde a staf tipped [v.r. typped] with horn. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 6968 A stalworth spere..With stelen hed that wel was tipped. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 870 His snowte was with irne typped. 1555 Eden Decades 21 Arrowes typte with bones. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 254 Their Hunters horne..tipt with silver. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 580 In his hand a Reed Stood waving, tipt with fire. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 342 Flowers..white tipped with green. Ibid. III. 284 Scales..fringed, tipt and edged with black. 1821 J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Lady G. B. 27 With ink-stain tipt. 1905 United Free Ch. Mag. Feb. 8 The first arrow was tipped with stone of the neolithic age, and the next..with electric telegraph wire, a theft from the twentieth century. |
c. fig.
| 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 17 Their venomous tongs (typped with the mettal of infamy and slander). 1607 Beaumont Woman-Hater iv. ii, Sir, enter when you please, and all good language tip your tongue. 1635 Sibbes Soul's Confl. ii. (1638) 18 Doth not Satan tippe the tongues of the enemies of religion now, to insult over the Church? 1735 West Let. in Gray's Poems (1775) 6 The very thought, you see, tips my pen with poetry. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lii, An intelligent smile tipped with pity. |
▪ X. tip, v.4
[Orig. Rogues' Cant, of obscure origin. (Possibly related to tip v.1, through the notion of touching lightly, but this is very uncertain.)]
1. trans. (Rogues' Cant, and slang.) To give; to hand, pass; to let one have; to put on, present, or exhibit the character of: usually with dative of person. a. in various connexions and shades of meaning; sometimes little more than ‘do’.
| 1610 Rowlands Martin Mark-all E ij, Tip me that Cheate, Giue me that thing. 1676 Coles Dict., Tip the cole to Adam Tiler, give the (stoln) money to your (running) Comrade. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Tip, to give or lend. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 324 ¶1 Some are celebrated for a happy Dexterity in tipping the Lion upon them; which is performed by squeezing the Nose flat to the Face, and boring out the Eyes with their Fingers. 1742 Fielding Jos. Andrews ii. xvii, You must not tip us the traveller; it won't go here. a 1743 Ld. Hervey Mem. Geo. II, I. 408 The King tipped Horace the ‘puppy’ once or twice. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 372 Frank, tip us a chaunt; which he did. 1779 F. Burney Diary 28 May, I think you should tip the doctor the same compliment. 1798 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tales of the Hoy Wks. 1812 IV. 409 My Lord Carlisle can tip ye a hundred rhymes in half an hour. a 1825 Ld. Tamworth Let. to Parr Parr's Wks. 1828 VII. 29 My wife has said she means to tip that excellent fellow a visit in the Autumn. 1842 Mrs. Gore Fascin. 15 ‘Tip us your fist, old boy!’ cried he. 1884 Pae Eustace 129 ‘Tip me your fin, my heart of oak’, said Joe. 1904 R. Hichens Woman w. Fan ix, You've only got to tip her a note of thanks. |
b. With a coin or sum of money as obj. (Hence sense 2, in which the person, here the indirect or dative, becomes the direct obj.) Also with up and absol.
| 1610 Rowlands Martin Mark-all E iv, Tip a make ben Roome Coue, Giue a halfepeny good Gentlemen. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 13 Tip him no Cole, give him no Money. 1719 D'Urfey Pills VI. 143 You will tip me a Guinea. 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 13, I shall expect, before we part, that you will tip up my half of the prize. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 325/2 If I could tip up the 5s. the day after I'd paid the last week's 1s., I must [etc.]. 1884 Pae Eustace 33 Come, tip me a shilling. |
| absol. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiii, I am quite out of cash until my father tips up. 1965 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 7 Nov. 41/2 For t'first two year she tipped up, she give me her wage packet and I give her her spending money. |
2. colloq. (orig. slang). a. To give a gratuity to; to bestow a small present of money upon (an inferior), esp. upon a servant or employee of another, nominally in return for a service rendered or in order to obtain an extra service; also upon a child or schoolboy. Const. with.
| 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux Strat. ii. ii, Then I, Sir, tips me the Verger with half a Crown. 1733 Swift Legion Club 134 Tipping him with half a crown, Now, said I, we are alone. 1747 Gentl. Mag. Mar. 147/1 T'wou'd have paid The reck'ning clean, and tipp'd the maid. 1752 Fielding Amelia xi. v, He advised his friend..to begin with tipping (as it is called) the great man's servant. c 1810 W. Hickey Mem. (1960) x. 164 Joseph Polt..whom I had frequently called upon, and tipped at Eton School. 1848 Thackeray Contrib. to Punch Wks. 1886 XXIV. 189 You..used to tip me when I was a boy at school. 1883 J. H. Ingram in Harper's Mag. July 231/2 He had..tipped him to the extent of a sixpence. 1939 G. B. Shaw Geneva ii. 38, I havnt exchanged twenty words with the boy since I tipped him when he was going from Eton to Oxford. |
b. absol. To give a gratuity or gratuities.
| 1727 Gay Begg. Op. iii. i, Did he tip handsomely? 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 322 He used to tip pretty freely. 1906 Sat. Rev. 22 Sept. 358/2 He always manages to secure attention... It is not because he tips: others tip, and get left. |
3. a. Phrase. to tip the (or a) wink, to give a wink to a person as a private signal or warning. Also to tip a nod.
| 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode i. i, I only tip him the wink, he knows an Ale-house from a Hovel. 1698 Vanbrugh æsop v. 71 Tip but the wink, he understands you. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 498 ¶3 The coachmen began..to tip the wink upon each other. 1726 Swift Dog & Thief iii, The stock-jobber..tips you, the freeman, a wink. 1757 Smollett Reprisal ii. iii, I came as soon as you tipped me the wink. 1841 Marryat Poacher xxii, The lad tipped a wink to Joey. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxv, I tipped him several more [nods], and he was in great spirits. |
† b. To indicate privately by a wink or the like.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xii, I will tip you the proper person..as you do not know the town. |
▪ XI. tip, v.5 colloq.
[from tip n.4]
1. trans. To give a ‘tip’ or piece of private information about; esp. to mention or indicate as a probable winner, a profitable speculation, etc.
| 1883 [see tipping vbl. n.5]. 1889 E. Dowson Let. 16 Nov. (1967) 117 Ye gods what of the Manchester Nov. I have been tipped (i) Lady Roseberry (ii) Goldseeker (iii) Phil—(by you). 1894 Westm. Gaz. 24 Feb. 7/2, I am inclined to ‘tip’ Aston Villa both to head the League and to win the Cup. 1897 Ibid. 6 July 9/2 Florio Rubattino..has been ‘tipped’ by some of the papers for this race. 1902 Ibid. 15 Jan. 11/1 At this time when South African shares are being ‘tipped’. 1909 Ibid. 6 Sept. 10/1 A run up to 90, the price for which the shares are tipped, would be the easiest thing in the world. |
2. To give a ‘tip’ to; to furnish (a person) with private information as to the chances of some event; to warn, alert, or inform (a person); to make known or give away (someone or something). Freq. const. off. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1891 in Cent. Dict. 1893 L. W. Moore His Own Story xxi. 292 This was ‘tipped off’ to me on Thursday, and also that the arrest of the whole party was to be made. Ibid. xxxiv. 445 When I saw he had ‘tipped me off’ to her, I said, ‘Look at me, for I am the man he told you to identify.’ 1895 Funk's Standard Dict. s.v., The jockey tipped the bookmaker. 1896 Chicago Tribune 28 June 4/2 The fact that the telegram to her had ‘tipped off’ the situation made Mrs. Jones particularly downhearted. 1899 S. Crane Monster xix. 76, I told him to keep his trap shut... You know how he'll go all over town yapping about the thing. I thought I'd better tip you. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London xv. 136 He was doing badly and was tipped off there was good money in England. 1950 Harper's Mag. Feb. 70/2 Marks that have been tipped off are those that have been pointed out by others. 1955 M. Gilbert Sky High xiii. 184 That one [crime] we got tipped off about and put out a dragnet. 1960 M. Spark Bachelors x. 163 ‘Someone has tipped the police,’ said Mike Garland. 1964 McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) ii. xxxi. 359 There could be no more telling touch to tip us off to the character of TV. 1975 T. Allbeury Special Collection xiv. 96 Was there any mileage in tipping them off? Experience said that tippers-off always got their hands caught in the machinery. 1978 G. McDonald Fletch's Fortune xix. 130 Who tipped you?.. Who told you about the editorial, and the campaign? |
3. intr. To furnish ‘tips’; to carry on the business of a tipster.
| 1903 Farmer & Henley Slang Dict., Tip... As verb = to impart exclusive information. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 8 Apr. 8/3 I'm a racing man, and I've tipped on all the principal racecourses in England. |
▪ XII. tip
variant of tup n. ‘a ram’, and tup v.