“sipping” is a form of
sip
/sɪp/ noun, verb
Forms sips sipping sipped
- noun A small mouthful of drink.
- noun An event at which people drink alcohol in small, usually subintoxicating amounts.
- verb (transitive) To drink slowly, small mouthfuls at a time.
- verb (intransitive) To drink a small quantity.
- verb (transitive) To taste the liquor of; to drink out of.
- verb (figurative, transitive) To consume slowly.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sippen, of uncertain origin. Compare with Low German sippen (“to sip”). Possibly from a variant of Middle English suppen (“to drink, sip”) (see sup) or perhaps from Old English sipian, sypian (“to take in moisture, soak, macerate”), from Proto-Germanic *sipōną (“to drip, trickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb- (“to pour out, trickle, leak out”). Compare also Old High German supfen (“to drink, sip”), from Proto-Germanic *sūpaną (“to sip, intake”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
- verb To draw into the mouth; to suck up; as, a bee sips nectar from the flowers.
- verb To drink a small quantity; to take a fluid with the lips; to take a sip or sips of something.
- noun The act of sipping; the taking of a liquid with the lips.
Etymology [OE. sippen; akin to OD. sippen, and AS. s to sip, suck up, drink. See Sup, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sip”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details