sop

 
Pronunciation: /sɒp/

noun

  • 1a thing of no great value given or done as a concession to appease someone whose main concerns or demands are not being met: my agent telephones as a sop but never finds me work
  • 2a piece of bread dipped in gravy, soup, or sauce.

verb (sops, sopping, sopped)

[with object] (sop something up)
  • soak up liquid using an absorbent substance: he used some bread to sop up the sauce
  • archaic wet thoroughly; soak: the dews ... bemoistening sop his harden’d shoes

Origin:

Old English soppian 'dip (bread) in liquid', sopp (noun), probably from the base of Old English sūpan 'sup'. Sense 1 (mid 17th century) alludes to the sop used by Aeneas on his visit to Hades to appease Cerberus