tipple

See also: Tipple

English

WOTD – 29 June 2010

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

tipple (plural tipples)

An area near the entrance of mines which is used to load and unload coal.
(rail transport) An apparatus for unloading railroad freight cars by tipping them; the place where this is done.
Alternative form: tippler
(slang) Any alcoholic drink.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage
- 2001, Ricky Gervais; Stephen Merchant, “New Girl”, in The Office, season 1, episode 5, 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:
  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:
  But not a drop to drink … Love Islanders are limited to two tipples a day.

area near the entrance of mines used to load and unload coal

apparatus for unloading railroad freight cars by tipping them

slang: any alcoholic drink

Bulgarian: питие (bg) n (pitie)
Czech: chlast (cs) m, pití (cs) n, alkohol (cs) m
Finnish: paukku (fi), napanteri (fi)
French: verre (fr), coup (fr), chopine (fr), canon (fr), goutte (fr), pinte (fr), bibine (fr), jaja (fr)
Russian: (алкого́льный (ru) (alkogólʹnyj)) напи́ток (ru) m (napítok), бухло (ru) n (buxlo) (slang), спотыка́ч (ru) m (spotykáč)
Spanish: copa (es), trago (es), botella (es), chiquito (es), chato (es), bebistrajo (es)

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

To sell alcoholic liquor by retail. [from earlier 16th c.]
(transitive, intransitive) To drink too much alcohol. [from mid-16th c.]
(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, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
  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.
(transitive) To put up (hay, etc.) in bundles in order to dry it.
(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.

To sell alcoholic liquor by retail

To drink too much alcohol

to drink alcohol regularly, but not to excess

Bulgarian: пийвам (pijvam)
Czech: nasávat impf, chlastat (cs) impf
Finnish: tissutella (fi)
French: picoler (fr), lever le coude (fr), s'humecter la luette, boire (fr), biberonner (fr)
German: picheln (de)
Russian: выпива́ть (ru) (vypivátʹ)
Spanish: pimplar (es), copear (es), empinar el codo, mojar la canal maestra, tomar (es), trincar (es), soplar (es)
Swedish: dricka (sv), pimpla (sv)