slip

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
slip1

▶verb (slips, slipping, slipped)

• 1 lose one's balance or footing and slide unintentionally for a short distance.

  ■ accidentally slide or move out of position or from someone's grasp.

  ■ fail to grip or make proper contact with a surface.

• 2 pass gradually to a worse condition.

  ■ (usu. slip up) make a careless error.

• 3 move or place quietly, quickly, or stealthily.

• 4 escape or get loose from (a means of restraint).

  ■ fail to be remembered by (one's mind or memory).

  ■ release (a hunting dog) from restraint.

  ■ release (the clutch of a motor vehicle) slightly or for a moment.

• 5 Knitting move (a stitch) to the other needle without knitting it.

• 6 (of an animal) produce (dead young) prematurely; abort.

▶noun

• 1 an act of slipping.

  ■ a sideways movement of an aircraft in flight.

  ■ Geology the relative horizontal displacement of corresponding points on either side of a fault plane.

• 2 a minor or careless mistake.

• 3 a loose-fitting garment, especially a short petticoat.

• 4 Cricket a fielding position close behind the batsman on the off side.

• 5 short for slipway.

• 6 a leash which enables a dog to be released quickly.

– phrases
give someone the slip informal evade or escape from someone.
let something slip

• 1 reveal something inadvertently in conversation.

• 2 archaic release a hound from the leash to begin the chase.

slip of the pen (or the tongue) a minor mistake in writing (or speech).

– derivatives
slippage noun.

– origin ME: prob. from Mid. Low Ger. slippen (v.); cf. slippery.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
slip2

▶noun

• 1 a small piece of paper for writing on or that gives printed information.

• 2 a long, thin, narrow strip of wood or other material.

• 3 (a slip of a ——) a small or slim young person: a slip of a girl.

• 4 Printing a printer's proof on a long piece of paper; a galley proof.

• 5 a cutting taken from a plant for grafting or planting; a scion.

– origin ME: prob. from MDu., Mid. Low Ger. slippe ‘cut, strip’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
slip3

▶noun a creamy mixture of clay, water, and typically a pigment of some kind, used for decorating earthenware.

– origin C17: of obscure origin; cf. Norw. slip(a) ‘slime’.