To sip means to drink something slowly, taking small amounts at a time. When you sip hot chocolate on a cold morning, you take tiny mouthfuls so you don't burn your tongue. When someone sips water during a long speech, they're drinking just enough to wet their throat without gulping down the whole glass.

Sipping is different from gulping or chugging. After running around at recess, you might gulp water quickly because you're so thirsty. But when you're trying a new flavor of juice or enjoying a warm drink, you sip it to taste it carefully and make it last longer.

The word can also be a noun: you might take a sip of your friend's lemonade to see if you like it before getting your own. Parents often tell kids to sip hot soup rather than slurp it down, both because it's safer and more polite. You can sip through a straw, from a cup, or even from a water fountain, as long as you're gentle about it.