tipple

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verb

tip·​ple ˈti-pəl How to pronounce tipple (audio)
tippled; tippling ˈti-p(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce tipple (audio)

intransitive verb

: to drink liquor especially by habit or to excess

transitive verb

: to drink (liquor) especially continuously in small amounts
tippler noun

tipple

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noun (1)

tipple

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noun (2)

1
: a place where or an apparatus by which cars (as for coal) are loaded or emptied
2
: a coal-screening plant

Examples of tipple in a Sentence

Verb I do tipple now and then. Noun (1) a single-malt Scotch with a touch of water is his preferred tipple
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
People have been tippling there for more than four hundred years, and the wine list has the heft—and the persuasive majesty—of a Gutenberg Bible. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024 The legendary Doyle’s in Jamaica Plain, for example, which dated back to the 1880s and for years was a place where the political class tippled, is no more. Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 4 May 2023
Noun
Regardless of where they are seated, fliers can also try some of the new tipples on board. Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 10 Mar. 2025 In fact, everyone from Lady Gaga to Edith Piaf, Charlie Chaplin to Cary Grant have enjoyed a tipple or two. Alissa Fitzgerald, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tipple

Word History

Etymology

Verb

back-formation from obsolete tippler alehouse keeper, from Middle English tipler

Noun (2)

English dialect tipple to tip over, frequentative of English tip entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1560, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (1)

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1880, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tipple was in 1560

Cite this Entry

“Tipple.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tipple. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

tipple

verb
tip·​ple
ˈtip-əl
tippled; tippling
-(ə-)liŋ
: to drink liquor especially by habit
tippler
-(ə-)lər
noun

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