Sip

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SIPPED (sĭpt); p. pr. & vb. n. SIPPING.] [A-S. sipan, O. D. sippen, L. Ger. sippen, sippken, allied to A-S. sûpan, to sip, suck up, drink, drink to excess, Icel. súpa, Sw. supa, Dan. söbe, L. Ger. supen, H. Ger. saufen.]

1Sense 1. To drink or imbibe in small quantities; especially, to take in with the lips in small quantities, as a liquid; as, to sip tea. “Every herb that sips the dew.” Milton.

2Sense 2. To draw into the mouth; to extract; as, a bee sips nectar from the flowers.

3Sense 3. To drink out of.

They skim the floods, and sip the purple flowers. Dryden.

v. i. To drink a small quantity; to take a fluid with the lips.

n. 1. The taking of a liquor with the lips.

2Sense 2. A small draught taken with the lips; a slight taste.

One sip of this Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight Beyond the bliss of dreams. Milton.

A sip is all that the public ever care to take from reservoirs of abstract philosophy. De Quincey.