1899. Whiteing, John St., v. You kin take my tip; there's some very respectable people in this place.
1900. Lynch, High Stakes, xxiii. I guess Drexel will know whether it's a tip or not.
1901. Free Lance, 9 Feb., 470. 2. [They] were pursued by their lady friends for tips as to what to buy or sell.
2. (colloquial).—A gratuity; a vail: spec. money in acknowledgment of service rendered or expected. Also (loosely), any gift of money. Likewise tippery = payment. As verb tip = (1) to give tips; and (2) to earn money (see quots. 1610 and 1772).
1610. Rowlands. Martin Mark-all (H. Club's Rept. 1874), 3. And tip lowr with thy prat.
1707. Farquhar, Beaux' Stratagem, ii. 3. Then I, sir, tips me the verger with half-a-crown.
1727. Gay, Beggars Opera, iii. 1. Did he tip handsomely? How much did he come down with?
1772. Bridges, Homer Burlesque, 139. This job will tip you one pound one.
1853. Bradley, Verdant Green. Mrs Tester . . . was dabbing her curtseys in thankfulness for the large amount with which our hero had tipped her.
1854~5. Thackeray, Newcomes, xvi. Remember how happy such benefactors made you . . . and go off on the very first fine day and tip your nephew at school. Ibid. What money is better bestowed than that of a schoolboy's tip?
1857. Ducange Anglicus, Vulg. Tongue, 39. Lawyer Bob draws fakements up; he's tipped a peg for each.
1874. Siliad, 99. Gasmen assume respect, which costs them dear, 'Tis bought with tips to pay for quarts of beer.
1877. Scribner's Mag., July, 400. This whole matter of tipping waiters, and of waiters expecting to be tipped, is a very marked manifestation of the poison of pauperism.
1884. Greenwood, Little Ragamuffins. 'Come on . . . tip up, Smiffield.' 'Tip up!' I repeated, in amazement.' . . . ' Fork out, said the boy.
1885. D. Teleg., 16 Jan. Others declare that those only who display beforehand the alluring tip catch the porter's eye.
1891. Harry Fludyer, 49. You get your pocket-money regularly, and I know the Pater tipped you at Christmas, and the Mater told me she gave you two pounds when you went back.
1898. Gissing, Town Traveller, xxiv. No doubt he was jolly frightened when you spotted him, and you know how he met you once or twice and tipped you.
3. (Felsted School).—(a) A false report; (b) a foolish blunder in translating.
1890. Felstedian, Feb. 3. Some one ventured to suggest that it was all a beastly tip.
4. (old).—A draught of liquor; an abbreviation (B. E.) of tipple (q.v.). to tip off = to drink (B. E. and Grose).
Verb. (common).—Generic for doing: a verb of general application (Harman, B. E., Grose, Vaux, Hotten). Thus to tip the lour (cole, brass, rhino, etc.) = to pay, give, get or lend money (see subs. sense 2); to tip a sock = to land a blow; to tip a settler = to knock-out; to tip to Adam Tiler = to hand the swag to a confederate; to tip a mish = to put on a shirt; to tip off = (1) to drink: see Tipple; (2) to die; to tip the lion = to flatten one's nose with the thumb and extend the mouth with the fingers (Grose); to tip a daddle (the fives, or the gripes in a tangle) = to shake hands (Grose); to tip a copper = to sky a coin; to tip a yarn = to tell a story; to tip the traveller = to humbug, to romance; to tip the wink =
