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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lip.

Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/lɪp/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth.

    countable
  2. A part of the body that resembles a lip, such as the edge of a wound or the labia.

    countable
  3. The projecting rim of an open container or a bell, etc.; a short open spout.

    broadly · countable
  4. Backtalk; verbal impertinence.

    slang · uncountable
    Don’t give me any lip!
  5. The edge of a high spot of land.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The sharp cutting edge on the end of an auger.

    countable · uncountable
  7. One of the two opposite divisions of a labiate corolla.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A distinctive lower-appearing of the three true petals of an orchid.

    countable · uncountable
  9. One of the edges of the aperture of a univalve shell.

    countable · uncountable
  10. Embouchure: the condition or strength of a wind instrumentalist's lips.

    colloquial · countable · uncountable
  11. Clipping of lipstick.

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · colloquial · countable · uncountable
    I put on some red lip and a casual print dress.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lippe, from Old English lippa, lippe (“lip”), from Proto-West Germanic *lippjō (“lip”), from Proto-Germanic *lepô, from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely, droop, sag”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lippe (“lip”), West Frisian lippe (“lip”), Dutch lip (“lip”), German Lippe and Lefze (“lip”), Low German Lippe (“lip”), Luxembourgish Lëps (“lip”), Vilamovian łyp (“lip”), Yiddish ליפּ (lip, “lip”), Danish læbe (“lip”), Norwegian Bokmål leppe (“lip”), Norwegian Nynorsk leppa, leppe, lippa, lippe (“lip”), Swedish läpp (“lip”), Latin labium (“lip”).

verb/lɪp/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To touch or grasp with the lips; to kiss; to lap the lips against (something).

    transitive
  2. To touch lightly.

    figuratively · transitive
  3. To wash against a surface, lap.

    intransitive · transitive
  4. To rise or flow up to or over the edge of something.

    intransitive
  5. To form the rim, edge or margin of something.

    transitive
  6. To utter verbally.

    transitive
  7. To simulate speech by moving the lips without making any sound; to mouth.

    transitive
  8. To make a golf ball hit the lip of the cup, without dropping in.

  9. To change the sound of (a musical note played on a wind instrument) by moving or tensing the lips.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lippe, from Old English lippa, lippe (“lip”), from Proto-West Germanic *lippjō (“lip”), from Proto-Germanic *lepô, from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely, droop, sag”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lippe (“lip”), West Frisian lippe (“lip”), Dutch lip (“lip”), German Lippe and Lefze (“lip”), Low German Lippe (“lip”), Luxembourgish Lëps (“lip”), Vilamovian łyp (“lip”), Yiddish ליפּ (lip, “lip”), Danish læbe (“lip”), Norwegian Bokmål leppe (“lip”), Norwegian Nynorsk leppa, leppe, lippa, lippe (“lip”), Swedish läpp (“lip”), Latin labium (“lip”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.