tip

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small amount of extra money given to thank someone for a service, such as a waiter.

   I left a generous tip for the friendly waiter.

2. 2
   noun

   The pointed or narrow end of something.

   The tip of the pencil broke off.

3. 3
   noun

   A piece of useful advice.

   She gave me a few tips on how to study for the exam.

4. 4
   verb

   To give a small amount of extra money for a service.

   Remember to tip the taxi driver.

5. 5
   verb

   To tilt or cause something to lean to one side.

   He tipped the bottle to pour the last drops.

Multiword verbs with tip

• tip off Phrasal verb A2

  to give someone private information or an advance warning

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Tip meaning “a useful piece of advice” probably comes from the 17th-century underworld phrase tip someone the wink, meaning to give a private signal. Here tip meant “give” or “allow to have.” Uses such as “tip me a shilling” also produced the early-17th-century noun tip for money given as a reward for service.

From Middle English tip, typ, tippe (“tip”), from Proto-Germanic *tuppijô, *tuppijǭ (“tip”), a diminutive of *tuppaz. Related to Saterland Frisian Tip (“tip”), West Frisian tippe, tip (“tip”), Dutch tip (“tip”), German Low German Tip, Tippel (“tip”), dialectal German Zipf (“tip”) (diminutive Zipfel used in Standard German), Danish tip (“tip”), Swedish tipp (“tip”), Icelandic typpi (“knob, pin, penis”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Timpe (“tip”), West Frisian timpe (“tip”), Old English tæppa (“tap, spigot”), Albanian thep (“tip, point”), Middle High German züpfel (“pointed end, tip”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary