[Orig. Rogues’ Cant, of obscure origin. (Possibly related to TIP v.1, through the notion of touching lightly, but this is very uncertain.)]
1. trans. (Rogues’ Cant, and slang.) To give; to hand, pass; to let one have; to put on, present, or exhibit the character of: usually with dative of person. a. in various connections and shades of meaning; sometimes little more than ‘do.’
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, E ij. Tip me that Cheate, Giue me that thing.
1676. Coles, Dict., Tip the cole to Adam Tiler, give the (stoln) money to your (running) Comrade.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Tip, to give or lend.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 324, ¶ 1. Some are celebrated for a happy Dexterity in tipping the Lion upon them; which is performed by squeezing the Nose flat to the Face, and boring out the Eyes with their Fingers.
1742. Fielding, Jos. Andrews, II. xvii. You must not tip us the traveller; it won’t go here.
a. 1743. Ld. Hervey, Mem. Geo. II., I. 408. The King tipped Horace the ‘puppy’ once or twice.
1763. Brit. Mag., IV. 372. Frank, tip us a chaunt; which he did.
1779. Mme. D’Arblay, Diary, 28 May. I think you should tip the doctor the same compliment.
1798. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Tales of the Hoy, Wks. 1812, IV. 409. My Lord Carlisle can tip ye a hundred rhymes in half an hour.
a. 1825. Ld. Tamworth, Lett. to Parr, Parr’s Wks. 1828, VII. 29. My wife has said she means to tip that excellent fellow a visit in the Autumn.
1842. Mrs. Gore, Fascin., 15. ‘Tip us your fist, old boy!’ cried he.
1884. Pae, Eustace, 129. ‘Tip me your fin, my heart of oak,’ said Joe.
1904. Hichens, Woman w. Fan, ix. You’ve only got to tip her a note of thanks.
b. With a coin or sum of money as obj. (Hence sense 2, in which the person, here the indirect or dative, becomes the direct obj.)
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, E iv. Tip a make ben Roome Coue, Giue a halfepeny good Gentlemen.
1673. R. Head, Canting Acad., 13. Tip him no Cole, give him no Money.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, VI. 143. You will tip me a Guinea.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 325/2. If I could tip up the 5s. the day after I’d paid the last week’s 1s., I must [etc.].
1884. Pae, Eustace, 33. Come, tip me a shilling.
absol. 1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xiii. I am quite out of cash until my father tips up.
2. colloq. (orig. slang). To give a gratuity to; to bestow a small present of money upon (an inferior), esp. upon a servant or employee of another, nominally in return for a service rendered or in order to obtain an extra service; also upon a child or schoolboy. Const. with.
1706–7. Farquhar, Beaux’ Strat., II. ii. Then I, Sir, tips me the Verger with half a Crown.
1733. Swift, Legion Club, 134. Tipping him with half a crown, Now, said I, we are alone.
1747. Gentl. Mag., March, 147/1. T’wou’d have paid The reck’ning clean, and tipp’d the maid.
1752. Fielding, Amelia, XI. v. He advised his friend … to begin with tipping (as it is called) the great man’s servant.
1848. Thackeray, Contrib. to ‘Punch,’ Wks. 1886, XXIV. 189. You … used to tip me when I was a boy at school.
1883. J. H. Ingram, in Harper’s Mag., July, 231/2. He had … tipped him to the extent of a sixpence.
b. absol. To give a gratuity or gratuities.
1727. Gay, Begg. Op., III. i. Did he tip handsomely?
1825. C. M. Westmacott, Eng. Spy, I. 322. He used to tip pretty freely.
1906. Sat. Rev., 22 Sept., 358/2. He always manages to secure attention…. It is not because he tips: others tip, and get left.
3. Phrase. To tip the (or a) wink, to give a wink to a person as a private signal or warning. Also to tip a nod.
1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, I. i. I only tip him the wink, he knows an Ale-house from a Hovel.
1698. Vanbrugh, Æsop, v. 71. Tip, but the wink, he understands you.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 498, ¶ 3. The coachmen began … to tip the wink upon each other.
1726. Swift, Dog & Thief, iii. The stock-jobber … tips you, the freeman, a wink.
1757. Smollett, Reprisal, II. iii. I came as soon as you tipped me the wink.
1841. Marryat, Poacher, xxii. The lad tipped a wink to Joey.
1861. Dickens, Gt. Expect., xxv. I tipped him several more [nods], and he was in great spirits.
† b. To indicate privately by a wink or the like.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. xii. I will tip you the proper person … as you do not know the town.
