How to Use sop in a Sentence

sop

1 of 2 noun
  • The sop of mud, the smell of clipped grass, and the rank vinegar of sweaty equipment.
    Luke O'Neil, Esquire, 27 Sep. 2017
  • The donutlike gram fritters are fluffy sops for the sauces.
    Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2023
  • And where air can flow, things such as shirts and trousers are less likely to stick to the body and sop with sweat.
    Todd Plummer, Robb Report, 31 May 2023
  • Mr Mubarak allowed a bit of space for opposition, as a safety valve and a sop to the West.
    The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
  • In a sop to them, the cabinet has agreed to step up preparations for such an outcome.
    The Economist, 9 July 2018
  • With expectations so low, sops like that may earn Mr Maduro a few votes.
    The Economist, 10 May 2018
  • In her memory, the potato balls were a sop to her limited palate.
    Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2022
  • At the highest level, therefore, Mr Xi seems to have given sops to other groups.
    The Economist, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Back then, boosting legal immigration was seen by many on the left as a sop to big business.
    Anchorage Daily News, 1 Mar. 2018
  • In loose talk about the matter, some, Trump included, describe the provision as a sop to hedge-fund managers.
    Tory Newmyer, Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2017
  • Natives eat doubles for breakfast and as a sop for alcohol at night.
    Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 19 June 2019
  • But she may be forced to give in, appointing him as health or education minister as a sop to the right.
    Bloomberg.com, 23 Feb. 2018
  • In our unholy era of perpetual March, it’s supposed to be a sop to those for whom escape hasn’t been an option.
    Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2021
  • Some members of the intelligentsia dismissed the job as a second-rate sop to a loyalist.
    Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2022
  • The irony is that the bill continues to be attacked as a sop to Mr. Moneybags even as many provisions hit the 1% with tax increases.
    The Editorial Board, WSJ, 11 Dec. 2017
  • Yes, that sop to Joe Manchin on fossil fuels is very unfortunate.
    Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2022
  • The new economic framework is not a trade pact aimed at reducing tariffs, a sop to grumbling in the U.S. that trade with Asia costs American jobs.
    Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 24 May 2022
  • As a sop to the country's powerful labor unions, the new rules will force companies to pay higher levels of severance pay.
    Geoffrey Smith, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Critics saw the bonus as a sop to drivers who might resent that the IPO meant a windfall for Lyft executives and the staff classified as employees.
    Lauren Smiley, Wired, 22 June 2021
  • The wall, which began as a bit of campaign trail hyperbole, is an act of hostility toward Mexico and a sop to Trump's base.
    Robin Abcarian, latimes.com, 13 Mar. 2018
  • Mr Abe’s ostensible reason for calling the election was another sop to the young.
    The Economist, 5 Oct. 2017
  • His one sop to the Left at the moment seems to be establishment-favorite John Kerry as a special climate adviser.
    Joseph Simonson, Washington Examiner, 24 Nov. 2020
  • In that year, Titus—the fifth Roman emperor in 11 years, a ruler with a shaky hold on a simmering populace and no blood claim to his office—opened the Colosseum as a sop.
    John Anderson, WSJ, 14 July 2022
  • The question seems to imply that asking the male artist to give up any of the purity of his artistic ambition would turn him into a sop, mediocre and cowed: into, perhaps, a woman.
    Sarah Menkedick, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • For its part, China has attempted to paint the Quad meetings as a sop to Washington that do not indicate any wider regional shift against Beijing.
    James Griffiths, CNN, 6 Oct. 2020
  • Democrats denounced it as an assault on democracy and a sop to billionaires when the Supreme Court issued a ruling two years ago that loosened limits on campaign giving.
    Nicholas Confessore and Rachel Shorey, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2016
  • But the domestic automakers are overwhelmingly truck-heavy, so this is another sop to them.
    Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 13 Nov. 2022
  • This reads like a sop to critics of cultural appropriation.
    Sam Sacks, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2020
  • Many Democrats and some Republicans have opposed the tax benefit as a sop to affluent families that can afford to send their children to private schools.
    Kevin Diaz, Houston Chronicle, 18 Dec. 2017
  • Maybe the speaker will be able to do both at once—many observers see the impeachment push as a McCarthy sop to get his right flank to agree to fund the government—but that seems unlikely, especially given his precarious perch as House speaker.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 14 Sep. 2023
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sop

2 of 2 verb
  • Crusty bread is for sopping up the great juice from the sauce.
    Atlanta Life, ajc, 25 Aug. 2017
  • Serve it with crusty bread to sop up some of the fragrant broth.
    Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Serve them with crusty bread or spaghetti to sop up the sauce.
    Saveur Editors, Saveur, 30 May 2017
  • All of the volunteers and sponges in the world won’t be enough to sop up this mess.
    Chris Mooney, Discover Magazine, 5 May 2010
  • Be sure to serve some crusty bread on the side to sop up every drop.
    Kitty Greenwald, WSJ, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Serve alongside plenty of steamed rice to sop up all the sauce.
    Raphael Ilagan, Bon Appétit, 24 Aug. 2020
  • Despite the bargain price, these rolls were thick and quick to sop up spills.
    The Good Housekeeping Institute, Good Housekeeping, 5 Apr. 2012
  • Putin’s men and women sopped this up even as the media turned a blind eye.
    Will Bunch, Philly.com, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Be sure to tear the meat off the bone into thick, ragged hunks to better sop up the dressing.
    Beth Dooley Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 2 Sep. 2020
  • Leave it there for a day or two so the rice can sop up most of the internal moisture.
    Time, 19 Sep. 2017
  • Stow wet boots and shoes in a tray that sops up the moisture: a plain old baking sheet lined with cork.
    Good Housekeeping, 28 Jan. 2011
  • Cotton fabrics sop up sweat and keep it close to your skin.
    Elizabeth Narins, Cosmopolitan, 10 Sep. 2014
  • His shirt clung sopping to his back, and with each gust he was nearly robbed of breath.
    Earl Swift, Outside Online, 20 June 2018
  • So how about that wild swing from drought to sopping wet winter in 2016?
    Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Use clumps of it gripped in your chopsticks to capture stray bits of meat and to sop up rivulets of sauce on your plate.
    Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2022
  • One man hangs sopping wet clothes on a line next to his damaged home.
    Mallory Simon, CNN, 4 Sep. 2017
  • Use the jalapeño cheese bread to sop up Goode's tangy barbecue sauce and don't forget a slice of pecan pie.
    Houston Chronicle, 10 May 2018
  • There were no meds, nothing to stop or sop up the bleeding, no doctors with time for me.
    Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2021
  • Get garlic bread or garlic noodles to sop up the sauce.
    oregonlive, 17 Oct. 2022
  • At this point, your clothing or sweater should be damp, but not sopping wet.
    Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2018
  • The weight will press excess water out of the tofu, and the paper towels will sop it up.
    Marygrace Taylor, SELF, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Serve this with plenty of crusty bread to sop up all the delicious juices that mingle at the bottom of the bowl.
    Star Tribune, 18 June 2021
  • Fresh bread that was packed on the side was soft and just the vehicle needed to sop up the extra dressing.
    Shaena Montanari, The Arizona Republic, 24 Sep. 2020
  • Serve this big salad with hunks of rough whole-wheat bread to sop up all the wonderful tidbits left in the bowl.
    Beth Dooley Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 5 May 2021
  • The dish is inspired by the flavors of paella, and suggests serving the mussels with a good bread to sop up all the juices.
    Robin Currie, Philly.com, 5 July 2018
  • Serve warm with lots of bread for sopping up the sauce and a simple green salad with a light lemon vinaigrette.
    Kim Sunée, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Mar. 2018
  • The rounded brick walls of the muggy, 3-foot-high, pitch-black tunnel were thick with sopping-wet grime.
    Dominic Fracassa, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Oct. 2017
  • The resulting sauce complements the tender shrimp and begs to be sopped up with bread.
    Linda Giuca and Christopher Prosperi, courant.com, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Give it bright indirect light, and keep it slightly moist but not sopping wet.
    Kate McGregor, housebeautiful.com, 21 Apr. 2023
  • Not a single drop penetrated through my clothes nor was I left sopping wet.
    Sophie Dweck, Town & Country, 1 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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