to give lip
- phrasal verb
- Informal
- Don't give lip to your parents!
Examples
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Teenagers often give lip when asked to do chores around the house.
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He always gives lip when he doesn't get his way.
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If you give lip to the coach again, you'll be benched for the season.
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The officer warned him not to give lip during the interview.
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If you give lip to the teacher again, you might get detention.
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Teenagers often give lip when their parents ask them to clean their rooms.
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The player was warned not to give lip to the referee during the game.
Synonyms
Reply rudely to someone in charge like a teacher or boss
To speak rudely and loudly to a person in charge
Talk back to someone in a rude way
To speak rudely to someone
Talk back rudely to someone in charge
Tell someone angrily that you are upset with them
Antonyms
How Rude
- Offensive
- Offensive
- Informal
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
give + lip
Given the provided constituent meanings, the compound is directly compositional: 'give' (to provide/produce) + 'lip' (impudent or cheeky speech) yields 'to produce impudent speech' = to talk back. This follows a productive English pattern (verb + noun) and is immediately derivable for learners who know the non-literal sense of 'lip', so it is transparent.
Etymology
The phrase give lip may come from the picture of someone moving their lips to answer back angrily. That's why it means 'to speak to someone in a rude or disrespectful way'.