tip

Etymology 1

From Middle English tip, typ, tippe, probably from an unrecorded Old English *typpa, *typpe, from Proto-Germanic *tuppijô, *tuppijǭ (“tip”), diminutive of *tuppaz (“top”). Cognates Cognate with 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, Albanian thep (“tip, point”).

noun

1. The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.
   the tip of one's nose
   When he woke up, about half an hour after, he called it to him again, but Dash only looked sheepish and wagged the tip of his tail. 1848, Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
   From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip. 2013-06-08, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
2. 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.
3. (music) The end of a bow of a stringed instrument that is not held.
4. (chiefly in the plural) A small piece of meat.
   chicken tips over rice, pork tips, marinated alligator tips
   He dutifully speared a beef tip and chewed it with false gusto. 1998, Alan Morris, “Between Earth and Sky”, in Guardians of the North, book 4; →ISBN
5. A piece of stiffened lining pasted on the inside of a hat crown.
6. A thin, boarded brush made of camel's hair, used by gilders in lifting gold leaf.
7. Synonym of eartip (“part of earbuds”)

verb

1. (transitive) To provide with a tip; to cover the tip of.
   The furry nations harbour-tipt with jet, / Fair ermines spotless as the snows they press.

Etymology 2

Late Middle English tippen, possibly from North Germanic/Scandinavian (compare Swedish tippa (“to topple over”)), or a special use of Etymology 1.

verb

1. (ergative) (To cause) to become knocked over, fall down or overturn.
2. (ergative) (To cause) to be, or come to be, in a tilted or sloping position; (to cause) to become unbalanced.
   There is little chance that the EU’s watchdogs have, until now, simply missed the evidence of a deeper malaise. The red flags signalling a democratic deficit have always been prominent: from the long-standing harassment, detention, and assassination of peaceful human rights defenders like Chea Vichea, Chut Wutty, and Tep Vanny, to ratcheting up efforts to deter civil society organisation through dubious, hostile legislation. More likely, the trade-offs between popular power and stability have been weighed by the EU and accepted, where these have tipped in its favour—in this case, shoring up a regional ally and trading partner, as well as delivering rapid rates of economic growth that have won Cambodia middle-income status, thus serving up a ready exemplar of neoliberal development logic. 2019, Sabrina Lawreniuk, “‘Hun Sen Won’t Die, Workers Will Die’: The Geopolitics of Labour in the Cambodian Crackdown”, in Dog Days: Made in China Yearbook 2018, ANU Press, page 217b
3. 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. 1941 June, “Notes and News: The Derelict Glyn Valley Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 278
4. (transitive, slang, dated) To drink.
5. (transitive) To dump (refuse).
6. (US, transitive) To pour a libation or a liquid from a container, particularly from a forty of malt liquor.
   I tip my 40 to your memory. 1993, DRS, Gangsta Lean (This Is For My Homies)
7. (transitive) To deflect with one′s fingers, especially one′s fingertips.
   Lampard was replaced by Kalou but the substitute immediately gave the ball to Jonas, whose 25-yard curler was tipped wide by Cech. September 28, 2011, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1 - 1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport

noun

1. (skittles, obsolete) The knocking over of a skittle.
2. An act of tipping up or tilting.
3. (UK, Australia, New Zealand) An area or a place for dumping something, such as rubbish or refuse, as from a mine; a heap (see tipple); a dump.
   1972 May 18, Jon Tinker, Must we waste rubbish?, New Scientist, page 389, As the tip slowly squashes under its own weight, bacteria rot away the organic matter, mainly anaerobically with the generation of methane.
   2009, Donna Kelly, 'Don't dump on Hepburn's top tip', The Hepburn Advocate, Fairfax Digital When I was a kid I used to love going to the tip.
   There are two rubbish tips in Rother. 2009, Rother District Council, Rother District Council Website
   2009, Beck Vass, 'Computer collectibles saved from the tip' The New Zealand Herald, Technology section, APN Holdings NZ Ltd Computer collectibles saved from the tip
4. (UK, Australia, New Zealand) Rubbish thrown from a quarry.
5. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, by extension) A recycling centre.
6. (colloquial) A very untidy place.
7. 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. October 1, 2011, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
8. A tram for expeditiously transferring coal.

Etymology 3

Uncertain, perhaps related to Etymology 1 and cognate with Dutch tippen, German tippen, Swedish tippa.

verb

1. (now rare) To hit quickly and lightly; to tap.
   A third rogue tips me by the elbow. 1708, Squire Bickerstaff Detected, John Partridge

noun

1. (now rare) A light blow or tap.

Etymology 4

Originally thieves' slang, of uncertain origin; according to the OED, probably related to sense 1.

verb

1. 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.
2. (thieves′ slang) To give, pass.

noun

1. 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.
   “Did you tip him enough to do any good? They only work for tips.” “I didn’t know that,” I said. “I thought the hotel paid them something on the side.” “I mean they will only do something for you for a substantial tip. Most of them are rotten clean through.” 1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, page 156
   Tips were an important part of porters' income, and at Christmas passengers felt there was extra pressure to give them - despite some perceiving the level of service to be poor. December 14 2022, David Turner, “The Edwardian Christmas getaway...”, in RAIL, number 972, page 35

Etymology 5

Probably from tip (“to give, pass”) or tip (“to tap”), or a combination of the two.

noun

1. A piece of private or secret information, especially imparted by someone with expert knowledge about sporting odds, business performance etc.
   hot stock tips
2. A piece of advice.
   tips and tricks
3. (Australia) A prediction or bet about the outcome of something.
   Thus, this is a tricky tip; Port’s inconsistency combined with the higher ladder placing of Adelaide have me leaning the latter’s way. 2019-07-04, Stirling Coates, “The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 16”, in The Roar
   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. 2012-06-27, Ian Macdonald, “Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 2) Bill 2012, Pay As You Go Withholding Non-compliance Tax Bill 2012”, in parliamentary debates (Australian House of Representatives)
   Another bye round, another dose of Thursday night footy and that means you have to get your tips in early. 2016-06-29, “AFL tipping 2016: round 15 Expert tips from Herald Sun”, in Herald Sun

verb

1. 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. 1987-10-01, Charles W. Murdock, “Heard It Through the Grapevine: The Future of Insider-Trading Laws”, in ABA Journal, volume 73, number 12, pages 104 of 100–108
   In rare instances, the provision logically could apply to the private right of action given to contemporaneous traders to recover for insider trading (e.g., a case where an insider tipped an associate about some forthcoming corporate event, and the tippee was found liable based on recklessness). 1996, Donald C. Langevoort, “The Reform of Joint and Several Liability Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Proportionate Liability, Contribution Rights and Settlement Effects”, in The Business Lawyer, volume 51, number 4, The American Bar Association, pages 1163 of 1157–1175
   If the institutional trading patterns we observe are a result of tipping, rather than precipitated by some other event, then we should see only a slight increase in the number of institutions active in the market (tipping would precipitate entry by, at most, the few institutions that were tipped). At the same time, given the nature of the reports, we should see an increase in the average buying activity of institutions (we cannot identify the specific institutions that were tipped, so we can only look at averages) and see little change in selling. 2007, Paul Irvine, Marc Lipson, Andy Puckett, “Tipping”, in The Review of Financial Studies, volume 20, number 3, pages 755 of 741–768
2. (Australia) To predict or bet on something having a particular outcome.
   The rest of Saturday’s game have tantalising opportunities for upsets – but I’m going to tip conservatively. 2022-05-05, Tim Miller, “The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 8”, in The Roar
   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. 2019-04-27, John Pesutto, “Austere pay rises would conflict with case for a 'living wage'”, in The Age
   Liz Truss is widely tipped to defeat rival Rishi Sunak to become the new British prime minister. 2022-09-04, Dominic McGrath, “Truss tipped to win UK leadership race”, in The Canberra Times

Etymology 6

noun

1. (African-American Vernacular) A kick or phase; one's current habits or behaviour.
2. (African-American Vernacular) A particular arena or sphere of interest; a front.