slip

Definition

1. a small piece of paper, especially one used for notes

2. the action of sliding or falling

3. in the game of cricket, a place near the batsman where players stand when they are trying to catch the ball

View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary

Origin and usage

The noun and verb slip have many meanings with many different origins dating back to the earliest days of English. The first two meanings above were first used in medieval times and are related to similar words in other Germanic languages.

Examples

The noun and verb slip have many different meanings and form part of numerous idiomatic phrases and phrasal verbs. You can explore them here and here. In cricket, slip refers to a fielding position behind the batsman and to the right of the wicket keeper if the batsman is right-handed; the positions are reversed in the case of a left-hander. In fact slip refers to a varying number of positions because there can be three, four or occasionally even more fielders in an arc radiating out from the wicket keeper. As with other fielding terms, slip refers both to the position and the player occupying it.

Quotations

“There’s many a slip twixt [between] cup and lip.”
(Proverb)

“I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows;”
(Tennyson, The Brook)

Related words

fall, plunge, trip, tumble