What does "tip" mean?
The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.
Tip
name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·1 syllable ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.
- Grammar: tip is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: hint, gratuity, point, acme.
- Useful contrasts: swedish grund, adhara, antapex.
- Usage evidence: How much do you leave for a tip in Spain?
How to use "tip"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tip" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tip" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tip" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tip" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tip" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "hint" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tip", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.
"the tip of one's nose"
- 2 The knocking over of a skittle. obsolete
- 3 A light blow or tap. archaic
- 4 A gratuity; a small amount of money left for a bartender, waiter, taxi driver or other servant as a token of appreciation.
"Workers in the American service industry usually depend on tips to even make minimum wage."
- 5 A piece of private or secret information, especially imparted by someone with expert knowledge about sporting odds, business performance etc.
"hot stock tips"
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 A kick or phase; one's current habits or behaviour.
- 7 Initialism of trans-identified person. abbreviation, alt-of, derogatory, initialism, offensive
- 8 an indication of potential opportunity wordnet
- 9 A piece of metal, fabric or other material used to cover the top of something for protection, utility or decoration.
"a tip for an umbrella, a shoe, a gas burner, etc."
- 10 An act of tipping up or tilting.
- 11 A piece of advice.
"tips and tricks"
- 12 A particular arena or sphere of interest; a front.
- 13 the top or extreme point of something (usually a mountain or hill) wordnet
- 14 The end of a bow of a stringed instrument that is not held.
- 15 An area or a place for dumping something, such as rubbish or refuse, as from a mine; a heap (see tipple); a dump. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK
"There is much sad evidence, too, of the spoliation and dereliction of vanished industry: tips, slag-heaps and derelict colliery-screens among which the ubiquitous, nomad mountain sheep graze unconcernedly."
- 16 A prediction of the winning team in a football game by a participant in a footy tipping competition. Australia
"Thus, this is a tricky tip; Port’s inconsistency combined with the higher ladder placing of Adelaide have me leaning the latter’s way."
- 17 the extreme end of something; especially something pointed wordnet
- 18 A small piece of meat. in-plural
"chicken tips over rice, pork tips, marinated alligator tips"
- 19 Rubbish thrown from a quarry. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK
- 20 A prediction about the outcome of something. Australia
"My guess, Senator Bernardi, is that Mr Rudd will take over. He will immediately say: 'I made a mistake on the carbon tax. We're not going to introduce it and we will go to an election.' There is my tip."
- 21 a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter) wordnet
- 22 A piece of stiffened lining pasted on the inside of a hat crown.
- 23 A recycling centre. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, broadly
- 24 a V shape wordnet
- 25 A thin, boarded brush made of camel's hair, used by gilders in lifting gold leaf.
- 26 A very untidy place. colloquial
- 27 Synonym of eartip (“part of earbuds”).
- 28 The act of deflecting with one's fingers, especially the fingertips
"As a frenetic opening continued, Cahill - whose robust approach had already prompted Jamie Carragher to register his displeasure to Atkinson - rose above the Liverpool defence to force keeper Pepe Reina into an athletic tip over the top."
- 29 the glans penis slang
"my tip sticky rn"
- 30 A tram for expeditiously transferring coal.
Verb
- 1 To provide with a tip; to cover the tip of. transitive
"I thinke he thinkes vpon the sauage bull: / Tush, feare not man, wee'll tip thy hornes with gold, / And all Europa shall reioyce at thee [...]."
- 2 (To cause) to become knocked over, fall down or overturn. ergative
- 3 To hit quickly and lightly; to tap. archaic
"A third rogue tips me by the elbow."
- 4 To give a small gratuity to, especially to an employee of someone who provides a service.
"You should always tip your waiter in the United States and most third world countries."
- 5 To give a piece of private information to; to inform (someone) of a clue, secret knowledge, etc.
"Dirks was an investment analyst who learned from a former employee of Equity Funding that the company had been fraudulently manufacturing insurance policies. Dirks tipped several institutions which then liquidated $16 million in Equity Funding stock before the fraud was exposed and the bottom fell out of the market. According to the Court, Dirks was a hero for (eventually) exposing the fraud. The SEC's censure of Dirks for tipping inside information was reversed because, the Supreme Court held, the liability of a tippee derives from that of the tipper. If the tipper is without sin, so is the tippee. Here, the employee's purpose in informing Dirks was to expose the fraud, so the tipper breached no duty. Moreover, according to the Court, for there to be a breach of duty, there must be personal benefit (in the form of pecuniary gain or reputational benefit that will translate into future earnings) arising to the tipper from the disclosure."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 remove the tip from wordnet
- 7 (To cause) to be, or come to be, in a tilted or sloping position; (to cause) to become unbalanced. ergative
"the brief suspended agony of the boat, as it would tip for an instant on the knife-like edge of the sharper waves, that almost seemed threatening to cut it in two […]"
- 8 To give, pass.
""Done say I to that, Reuben, tip me your fin, my spark, and it shall be a bet.""
- 9 To enter a prediction of the winning team of a football game, as part of a footy tipping competition. Australia
"The rest of Saturday’s games have tantalising opportunities for upsets – but I’m going to tip conservatively."
- 10 mark with a tip wordnet
- 11 To cause the contents of a container to be emptied out by tilting it.
"The workshop with its smithy is still intact, also the loading stage where the narrow-gauge wagons tipped their contents into those of the G.W.R."
- 12 To predict something having a particular outcome. Australia
"I'm tipping that, although complex accounting treatments tend to separate capital items and recurrent programs and impede overall visibility, there are significant overspends across the infrastructure portfolio."
- 13 give insider information or advise to wordnet
- 14 To drink. dated, slang, transitive
- 15 strike lightly wordnet
- 16 To dump (refuse). transitive
- 17 walk on one's toes wordnet
- 18 To pour a libation or a liquid from a container, particularly from a forty of malt liquor. US, transitive
"I tip my 40 to your memory."
- 19 to incline or bend from a vertical position wordnet
- 20 To deflect with one′s fingers, especially one′s fingertips. transitive
"Lampard was replaced by Kalou but the substitute immediately gave the ball to Jonas, whose 25-yard curler was tipped wide by Cech."
- 21 cause to tilt wordnet
- 22 cause to topple or tumble by pushing wordnet
- 23 give a tip or gratuity to in return for a service, beyond the compensation agreed on wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A male nickname.
- 2 Initialism of Tertiary Ideographic Plane, the fourth 65,536-codepoint plane in Unicode (from U+30000 through U+3FFFF). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 Abbreviation of Tipperary. abbreviation, alt-of
- 4 Initialism of Third Intermediate Period. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"[…] is based on a far too general assessment of the social position of TIP and Late Period priesthood. Further, it overlooks the actual historical context in which the trend of archaism emerged."
- 5 Initialism of Technological Institute of the Philippines. Philippines, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Example
"How much do you leave for a tip in Spain?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tip"?
Common synonyms include: hint, gratuity, point, acme, aculeus, acumination.
How do you use "tip" in a sentence?
How much do you leave for a tip in Spain?
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English tip, typ, tippe (“tip”), 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”).
Etymology 2
From Late Middle English tippen, possibly from North Germanic/Scandinavian (compare Swedish tippa (“to topple over”)), or a special use of Etymology 1.
Etymology 3
Uncertain, perhaps related to Etymology 1 and cognate with Dutch tippen, German tippen, Swedish tippa.
Etymology 4
Originally thieves' slang, of uncertain origin; according to the OED, probably related to sense 1.
Etymology 5
Probably from tip (“to give, pass”) or tip (“to tap”), or a combination of the two.
Etymology 6
Occasionally from Timothy.