sip

A small mouthful of drink.

So order one more coffee / Have another sip of wine / We can go on talking / Until it's disco closing time

An event at which people drink alcohol in small, usually subintoxicating amounts.

Earl is always a good time. His appearance at parties, whether it's a smart cocktail sip or a basement gig, is mandatory.

To drink slowly, small mouthfuls at a time.

He held out to me a bowl of steaming broth, that filled the room with a savour sweeter, ten thousand times, to me than every rose and lily of the world; yet would not let me drink it at a gulp, but made me sip it with a spoon like any baby.

A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed.

To drink a small quantity.

[She] rais'd it to her mouth with sober grace; / Then, sipping, offered to the next in place.

To taste the liquor of; to drink out of.

They skim the floods, and sip the purple flowers.

Alternative form of seep.

To consume slowly.

Sales of lightbulbs which sip electricity, and whose increased cost in the shops is easily paid for over their lifetime, used to double every year; in 1990/1991, they leapt sevenfold.

It makes a small car, the Chevy Cobalt, which sips petrol in moderation and is therefore selling well.

Acronym of single-issue publication.