tipple

Unknown but possibly from a Scandinavian source (see Norwegian tipla), or from tip +‎ -le.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪpəl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪpəl

tipple (countable and uncountable, plural tipples)

1. (countable) An area near the entrance of mines which is used to load and unload coal.
2. (countable, rail transport) An apparatus for unloading railroad freight cars by tipping them; the place where this is done.

   Alternative form: tippler

3. (countable and uncountable, slang) Any alcoholic drink.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage

   • 1974, Raoul Walsh, “Hail to the Chief”, in Each Man in His Time: The Life Story of a Director, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →LCCN, page 254:

     The comedian would have divers bottles of tipple hidden under bushes and in crannies around his house, and would select guests to embark on his idea of a treasure hunt.

   • 2001, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, “New Girl”, in The Office, season 1, episode 5 (television production), spoken by David Brent (Ricky Gervais):

     What's your tipple?

   • 2015 April 22, Sam Jordison, quoting Jan Morris, “Jan Morris talks about Venice”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     I know nothing about vino nero, and have always vaguely thought it a tipple from Sicily. I have never associated it with Venice.

   • 2022 July 18, Amelia Tait, “‘Alcohol is a hand grenade’: how reality TV went from boozy Big Brother to nosecco Love Island”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     But not a drop to drink … Love Islanders are limited to two tipples a day.

tipple (third-person singular simple present tipples, present participle tippling, simple past and past participle tippled)

1. To sell alcoholic liquor by retail. [from earlier 16th c.]
2. (transitive, intransitive) To drink too much alcohol. [from mid-16th c.]
3. (intransitive) To drink alcohol regularly or habitually, but not to excess.

   Synonym: bibble

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 3, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     Few of those who were summoned left their homes, and those few generally found it more agreeable to tipple in alehouses than to pace the streets.

4. (transitive) To put up (hay, etc.) in bundles in order to dry it.
5. (intransitive) To fall over; to topple.
   • 1928, The World's Carriers and Carrying Trades' Review, page 476:

     The men had only moved the trailer about a yard when suddenly it tippled over on its side, and bales of cotton fell on Howarth.

   • 2017, Christopher Lee, Margaret the Abomination:

     After taking a few moments to recover he turned and meandered towards the closest Supergun, ramming it from the side and watching as it tippled over.

• tippler

• “tipple n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present