slipping

«slipping» in Mova's school dictionary: sliding by accident and losing your balance, often on… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb form (slip, slips, slipped, slipping); adjective (slipping)

meaning for a pupil

1) Slipping is sliding by accident and losing your balance, often on something wet or smooth. tree →

2) Slipping is moving quietly or quickly, like slipping out of a room. tree →

3) Slipping is putting something somewhere quickly and quietly, like slipping a note into a pocket. tree →

4) Slipping can mean getting worse, like marks or grades slipping. tree →

sense in the lessons

In safety lessons, slipping on wet floors, ice or spills is a common cause of falls; signs say «Caution: wet floor». In stories, characters «slip away» or «slip past» guards without being seen. Phrases: «slipping away», «slipping through your fingers», «slip up», «slip on».

examples

• He was slipping on the icy path. tree →
• The rope kept slipping out of my hands. tree →
• She was slipping quietly out of the room. tree →
• I saw him slipping a note into her bag. tree →
• Wipe up spills so nobody slips. tree →
• My grades are slipping, so I need to practise more. tree →
• The soap kept slipping in the bath. tree →
• Time is slipping away; finish your test. tree →
• Slipping his net quickly beneath it he drew it out and lifted the silk coverlet. tree →

note

The -ing form of «slip»: double the p (slip → slipping, slipped). «A slip» is also a noun: a mistake (a slip of the tongue) or a small piece of paper. Safety: wear shoes with grip on ice.

In the corpora

• «You backsliding animal» cries the Badger (backsliding = slipping back into bad ways).
• Pool rules are about slipping, pushing, drains and never swimming without a grown-up watching.
• Slipping back into a bad habit after a promise is common; changing habits takes many tries.
• A funny true story, like slipping in the bath, is usually a better story than a cool lie.
• Mountain roads zigzag so they are longer but much less steep, and cars and walkers can climb without slipping or straining.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «slipping» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.