sup
sup Lexical Profile
sup Game Scores & Validity
• interjection
Used as an informal greeting to ask someone how they are doing or what is happening (short for 'what's up?').
"Sup, man? I haven't seen you around the campus all week."
• verb
To take or drink liquid or broth in small mouthfuls or sips.
"He sat quietly by the hearth, supping his hot broth with a wooden spoon."
To eat supper or take an evening meal.
"The guests supped together on roasted meats and fresh bread in the great hall."
• noun
A small mouthful or sip of liquid or broth.
"The weary traveler took a grateful sup of warm cider from the mug."
Word Nuance & Usage
In contemporary usage, 'sup' is most frequently encountered as a casual slang contraction of 'what's up?' used in informal greetings. Its traditional verb and noun senses relating to sipping liquid or eating an evening meal are now primarily literary, dialectal (especially Scottish and Northern English), or archaic.
• Rhymes for sup
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense meaning to drink in small mouthfuls comes from Old English 'sūpan', of Germanic origin and related to 'sip' and 'sop'. The sense meaning to eat an evening meal derives from Old French 'souper' (related to 'supper'), while the modern greeting is a late 20th-century clipped form of 'what's up?'.