sop
pronunciation
How to pronounce sop in British English:
UK [sɒp]
How to pronounce sop in American English:
US [sɑp]
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- Noun:
- piece of solid food for dipping in a liquid
- a concession given to mollify or placate
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- Verb:
- give a conciliatory gift or bribe to
- be or become thoroughly soaked or saturated with a liquid
- dip into liquid
- mop so as to leave a semi-dry surface
- become thoroughly soaked or saturated with liquid
- cover with liquid; pour liquid onto
Word Origin
- sop
- sop: [OE] The word sop originally denoted a ‘piece of bread, cake, etc dipped into water, milk, wine, or similar liquid’. The modern metaphorical meaning ‘something given to gain favour, bribe’ did not emerge until the mid-17th century, in allusion to the piece of bread soaked in enticing honey but spiked with a soporific drug that was given to the guard dog Cerberus to put him to sleep so that Aeneas could visit the Underworld.The word goes back ultimately to the same prehistoric Germanic base (*sup-) that produced English sip and sup ‘drink’, and also, via the Romance languages, soup and supper. The corresponding verb sop ‘dip in liquid’ now survives only in the present participial form sopping ‘soaking wet’ [19].=> sip, soup, sup, supper
- sop (n.)
- Old English sopp- "bread soaked in some liquid," (in soppcuppe "cup into which sops are put"), from Proto-Germanic *supp-, related to Old English verb suppan (see sup (v.2)), probably reinforced by Old French soupe (see soup (n.)). Meaning "something given to appease" is from 1660s, a reference to the sops given by the Sibyl to Cerberus in the "Aeneid."
- sop (v.)
- Old English soppian, from the source of sop (n.). Related: Sopped; sopping.
Example
- 1. Improve preventive maintenance plan , set up sop for operating equipment .
- 2. Operate and maintain stability and inventory chambers as per sop .
- 3. But in a sop to investors , ubs will pay a token dividend this year and step up payments in future as a sign of its confidence .
- 4. Was this a shrewd sop to nativists before mr obama pushes for a more welcoming immigration law ?
- 5. Update and implement new analysis methods of environment and sop under legal instructions .