Tip, v. t.
Etymology: [Cf. LG. tippen to tap, Sw. tippa, and E. tap to strike gently.]
1. To strike slightly; to tap. A third rogue tips me by the elbow. Swift.
2. To bestow a gift, or douceur, upon; to give a present to; as, to tip a servant. [Colloq.] Thackeray.
3. To lower one end of, or to throw upon the end; to tilt; as, to tip a cask; to tip a cart. To tip off, to pour out, as liquor. -- To tip over, to overturn. -- To tip the wink, to direct a wink; to give a hint or suggestion by, or as by, a wink. [Slang] Pope. -- To tip up, to turn partly over by raising one end.
4 other Webster entries under this spelling
Tip, n.
1. The point or extremity of anything; a pointed or somewhat sharply rounded end; the end; as, the tip of the finger; the tip of a spear. To the very tip of the nose. Shak.
2. An end piece or part; a piece, as a cap, nozzle, ferrule, or point, applied to the extreme end of anything; as, a tip for an umbrella, a shoe, a gas burner, etc.
3. (Hat Manuf.)
A piece of stiffened lining pasted on the inside of a hat crown.
4. A thin, boarded brush made of camel's hair, used by gilders in lifting gold leaf.
5. Rubbish thrown from a quarry.
Tip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tipped; p. pr. & vb. n. Tipping.]
To form a point upon; to cover the tip, top, or end of; as, to tip anything with gold or silver. With truncheon tipped with iron head. Hudibras. Tipped with jet, Fair ermines spotless as the snows they press. Thomson.
Tip, v. i.
To fall on, or incline to, one side. Bunyan. To tip off, to fall off by tipping.
Tip, n.
1. A light touch or blow; a tap.
2. A gift; a douceur; a fee. [Colloq.]
3. A hint, or secret intimation, as to the chances in a horse race, or the like. [Sporting Cant]
Shades of meaning
To tilt or tip is to throw out of a horizontal position by raising one side or end or lowering the other; the words are closely similar, but tilt suggests more of fluctuation or instability. Slant and slope are said of things somewhat fixed or permanent in a position out of the horizontal or perpendicular; the roof slants, the hill slopes. Incline is a more formal word for tip, and also for slant or slope. To cant is to set slantingly; in many cases tip and cant might be interchanged, but tip is more temporary, often momentary; one tips a pail so that the water flows over the edge; a mechanic cants a table by making or setting one side higher than the other. A vessel careens in the wind; lists, usually, from shifting of cargo, from water in the hold, etc. Careening is always toward one side or the other; listing may be forward or astern as well. To heel over is the same as to careen, and must be distinguished from "keel over," which is to capsize.