A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1566-1695
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Slip, n.2 Pl. slippis, -es, slips, slipes. [Late ME and e.m.E. slippe a slipway (1467, slypp a stairway (c1490), slippe (1578), slip (1592) a leash, slip(p the act of evading (1567) or sliding (1596), an error (1579), a child's pinafore (1690). Cf. OHG, MHG slipf a sliding, error, etc.; Slip v.]
1. Appar. a garment worn on top of others for the purpose of protection or concealment. Cf. Slop n.2 1566 Treasurer's Accounts XII 26.
vj elnis iij quarteris of blak welvote to be slippis 1580 Treasurer's Accounts MS 35 (2) b.
Quhyit sating tobe ane slip to his maiesties masking claithis 1613 Edinb. B. Rec. VI 358.
Ane stand keirsay clayth and ane stand perpetuare slipes to weir above my kiersay claythis … 8 ell half sad collourit perpetuane to be slipes above my claythis
2. Some accoutrement of a sword, ? a means of attachment, ? a scabbard.Cf. SND Slip n. 1, Eng. slip a leash or noose and Slip(p)on n. which suggest the former and Eng. dial. gun-slip (EDD Slip n. 19) which suggests the latter.John Lyle is recorded elsewhere in Cunningham Diary (e.g. p. 59) as supplying boots and shoes. 1674 Cunningham Diary 40.
To John Lyle for making a slip to my sword, 6 s. 1695 Foulis Acc. Bk. 175.
For a sword to Wm Foulis and a slip to it
3. A moral fault; an error. 1590-1 R. Bruce Serm. 112.
The maist halie man fallis sa oft … as … seventye times seven times, quhat is thy parte in thir slippes and snappers? Suppose thou fall [etc.] 1602 Elgin Rec. II 107.
Williame Pattounes wyff to pay half merk for the mony slippis on the Sabboth dayis 1646 Gunn Lyne & Megget 33.
That the said Mr. Hew should be openly rebuked for the particular slips informed against him 1671 Lauder Jrnl. 218.
Whow soon the toune begane to recover strenth and the memory of that foull slip waxed old, they hoised him out
4. To play (a person) a slip, to play a trick on. Only in Rutherford. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 503.
When I wait and look for Him the upper way, I see His wisdom is pleased to play me a slip and come the lower way 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 524.
This laughing and white-skinned world beguileth you; and if ye seek it more than God, it shall play you a slip 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 216 (see Play v.1 6). a1661 Rutherford Cry from the Dead (1765) 9.
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"Slip n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 12 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/slip_n_2>
