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
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision last month to shut down Germany's oldest nuclear reactors and temporarily scrub life extensions for the rest was widely seen as a sop to voters in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
—IEEE Spectrum, 4 Apr. 2011
India Espy-Jones, Essence, 31 Mar. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for sop
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Noun
Simpson emerged as a spear-carrier for Social Security benefit cuts in 2010, when he was appointed the GOP co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, established by Barack Obama as a sop to conservative deficit hawks.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision last month to shut down Germany's oldest nuclear reactors and temporarily scrub life extensions for the rest was widely seen as a sop to voters in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
—IEEE Spectrum, 4 Apr. 2011
Verb
Solange, seen in sopping wet tresses this week, creative directed a birthday shoot for Ari Lennox.
—India Espy-Jones, Essence, 31 Mar. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for sop
Cite this Entry
“Sop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sop. Accessed 24 Apr. 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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