1
chiefly dialectal
: a piece of food dipped or steeped in a liquid
2
: a conciliatory or propitiatory bribe, gift, or gesture
standard operating procedure; standing operating procedure
Examples of sop in a Sentence
Noun
as a sop to the teachers' union for supporting his reelection campaign, the mayor promised to push for the abolition of the residency requirement
Verb
sopped the sponge with the detergent and began scrubbing the floor vigorously
my book fell in the swimming pool and was thoroughly sopped before I could fish it out
Recent Examples on the Web
Jesse Green, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The second act begins to drag with slapdash vaudeville showcases that seem like sops to the performers.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2025
Alana Semuels/waitsfield, TIME, 24 Feb. 2025
The sheet that had been covering me was sopping wet and smelled strangely of my body, tin cans, and cayenne pepper.
—Gil Cuadros, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for sop
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Noun
The main one is Lizzie, a young journalist stuck on the wedding beat at the local paper, with obits thrown in as a sop to her demand for equality.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The second act begins to drag with slapdash vaudeville showcases that seem like sops to the performers.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2025
Verb
Carpenter tosses a green bag of sopping compost into a bin, then bends over to pick up a black plastic bag filled with trash.
—Alana Semuels/waitsfield, TIME, 24 Feb. 2025
The sheet that had been covering me was sopping wet and smelled strangely of my body, tin cans, and cayenne pepper.
—Gil Cuadros, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for sop
Cite this Entry
“Sop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sop. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sop
1 of 2 noun1
chiefly dialect
: a piece of food dipped or soaked in a liquid (as bread dipped in milk or gravy)
2
: a bribe or gift for soothing or winning approval
sop
2 of 2 verb
sopped; sopping
1
a
: to soak or dip in or as if in liquid
b
: to wet thoroughly
2
: to mop or soak up
sopping up gravy with bread
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