How to Use sop in a Sentence

sop

1 of 2 noun
  • 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
  • In a sop to them, the cabinet has agreed to step up preparations for such an outcome.
    — The Economist, 9 July 2018
  • Natives eat doubles for breakfast and as a sop for alcohol at night.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 19 June 2019
  • In her memory, the potato balls were a sop to her limited palate.
    — Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2022
  • With expectations so low, sops like that may earn Mr Maduro a few votes.
    — The Economist, 10 May 2018
  • Back then, boosting legal immigration was seen by many on the left as a sop to big business.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 1 Mar. 2018
  • 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
  • Getting rid of property taxes in particular feels like a sop for the well-heeled.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Mr Mubarak allowed a bit of space for opposition, as a safety valve and a sop to the West.
    — The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
  • At the highest level, therefore, Mr Xi seems to have given sops to other groups.
    — The Economist, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Yes, that sop to Joe Manchin on fossil fuels is very unfortunate.
    — Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2022
  • Some members of the intelligentsia dismissed the job as a second-rate sop to a loyalist.
    — Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2022
  • 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
  • The plan also includes some anti-growth elements that are pure political sops.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 27 Sep. 2017
  • 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
  • But the domestic automakers are overwhelmingly truck-heavy, so this is another sop to them.
    — Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 13 Nov. 2022
  • Mr Abe’s ostensible reason for calling the election was another sop to the young.
    — The Economist, 5 Oct. 2017
  • 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
  • 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
  • This is what modern social science looks like, and the idea that the best route to new knowledge involves one type of output, a traditional method, or limited public engagement is a sop.
    — Philip N. Howard, Wired, 26 Feb. 2021
  • Ending limits on the deduction for state and local taxes is even more obviously a sop to Democratic constituencies.
    — Ramesh Ponnuru Bloomberg Opinion (tns), Star Tribune, 2 Dec. 2020
  • Many details of the tax reform bill are still being worked on but Democrats already have labeled the proposal as a sop to corporations and wealthy individuals.
    — USA TODAY, 25 Oct. 2017
  • Another candidate was an outspoken opponent, contending that the project was a sop to developers.
    — Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
  • 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
  • President Jimmy Carter created the department in 1979 as a sop to the teachers unions.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 22 Nov. 2025
  • The cap has always been a sop to unions frightened of competition from charters, which are public schools without the suffocating rules imposed by collective union bargaining.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 23 Aug. 2021
  • 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
  • Mandated PLAs are a sop to unions that inflate construction costs and discourage competition.
    — Ben Brubeck, WSJ, 16 Apr. 2017
  • The implication is that the Republican tax reform was intended as a sop to the rich and designed to favor only the president’s supporters.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 12 Apr. 2026
  • 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

sop

2 of 2 verb
  • Crusty bread is for sopping up the great juice from the sauce.
    — Atlanta Life, ajc, 25 Aug. 2017
  • Serve them with crusty bread or spaghetti to sop up the sauce.
    — Saveur Editors, Saveur, 30 May 2017
  • Wring out the mop and make sure the mop is not sopping wet.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 12 May 2026
  • Wring out the mop and make sure the mop is not sopping wet.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Serve it with crusty bread to sop up some of the fragrant broth.
    — Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Be sure to serve some crusty bread on the side to sop up every drop.
    — Kitty Greenwald, WSJ, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Putin’s men and women sopped this up even as the media turned a blind eye.
    — Will Bunch, Philly.com, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Despite the bargain price, these rolls were thick and quick to sop up spills.
    — The Good Housekeeping Institute, Good Housekeeping, 5 Apr. 2012
  • 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
  • His shirt clung sopping to his back, and with each gust he was nearly robbed of breath.
    — Earl Swift, Outside Online, 20 June 2018
  • The other side of the sopping wet coin is how to counter these noises.
    — New Atlas, 7 Dec. 2025
  • Bring along pasta, rice or crusty bread for sopping up every last drop.
    — Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2019
  • Leave it there for a day or two so the rice can sop up most of the internal moisture.
    — Time, 19 Sep. 2017
  • There were no meds, nothing to stop or sop up the bleeding, no doctors with time for me.
    — Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2021
  • 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
  • People were holding sopping red cotton pads to both sides of his face.
    — Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2017
  • 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
  • The days of getting your fingers dirty while sopping up toppings with fries are over.
    — Mary Bowerman, USA TODAY, 1 May 2017
  • So how about that wild swing from drought to sopping wet winter in 2016?
    — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Yet so do sea otters, fish and even some insects, such as ants that sop up honey in spongy matter.
    — Ben Guarino, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Dec. 2019
  • Basil also prefers to remain somewhat moist (not sopping wet).
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 1 May 2026
  • The classic meatballs, glazed with a full-bodied tomato sauce, sopped up beefy juices in a warm pan.
    — Suzanne Loudermilk, baltimoresun.com, 26 Sep. 2017
  • 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
  • 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
  • Drying off won’t leave these absorbent towels sopping wet.
    — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The weight will press excess water out of the tofu, and the paper towels will sop it up.
    — Marygrace Taylor, SELF, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Enjoy a warm bowl of the chili as is, sop it up with homemade cornbread, or pile it atop a baked potato.
    — Jenna Sims, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2026
  • 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
  • Marcus was drying off while still in the pool, leaving his towel sopping wet.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
  • The actresses peel off their clothes and slide around sopping wet wearing next to nothing.
    — New York Times, 13 Feb. 2020

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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