slip out of/from/off my hands (2025)

Hello everybody

slip out
According to the above website:
The fish slipped out of my hands.
According to this site:
https://goo.gl/ViqRz2
but the fish slipped off and was back in the water.
According to this site:
https://goo.gl/YSS4MK
the fish slipped from my hands.
This is my question:
Can I use the verb "slip" with all of these prepositions?
For example:
I caught a fish but it slipped

my hands and came back to the river.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Yes, you can use that verb in sentences with all of these prepositions, and probably other prepositions.

keramus said:

For example:
I caught a fish but it slipped

from/off/out of

my hands and came back to the river.

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"From my hands" and "out of my hands" make sense, but "off my hands" doesn't. A fish "slips off" something it is lying on top of. In your three quotes in post #1, the "slipped off" one doesn't say "hands".

Note I cannot access the links: when I try it gives me an error. The 2d one appears to be a link to a book you have purchased. Since I have not purchased it, the software won't let me see it.

dojibear said:

Note I cannot access the links: when I try it gives me an error. The 2d one appears to be a link to a book you have purchased. Since I have not purchased it, the software won't let me see it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the jpegs. The "sliipped off" quote is definitely talking about a fish being held in someone's hands: it says she clutched it and lifted it, but the fish "slipped off and was back in the water". It is definitely OK English.

In this use "off" means "the opposite of on", so "slip off" means "be on top of something, then slip(slide) and end up not on it". While it is more common to say a fish is in someone's hands, as she lifted it from the water she also held its weight on her hands, so "off" is logical.

It doesn't use the phrase "off her hands". You can use the phrase "off my hands", when the meaning fits: something is on top of your hands and falls off.

It would certainly be understood, but I don’t think that’s a good example of a figurative use.

It’s much more idiomatic to say “We could see the opportunity slipping through our fingers”.

We should remember that all three prepositions function as the opposite of another preposition:

1. from/to
2. out of/into
3. off/on

So we have the following possibilities:

1. The fish came to my hand/The fish fell from my hand
   
2. The fish came into my hand/The fish fell out of my hand
   
3. The fish came on my hand/The fish fell off my hand ?

In #1 we should note that the term is "the fish slipped off".

, it's an adverb (or a phrasal verb if you prefer) and so the above principles don't apply.

dojibear said:

Yes, you can use that verb in sentences with all of these prepositions, and probably other prepositions.

"From my hands" and "out of my hands" make sense, but "off my hands" doesn't. A fish "slips off" something it is lying on top of. In your three quotes in post #1, the "slipped off" one doesn't say "hands".

Note I cannot access the links: when I try it gives me an error. The 2d one appears to be a link to a book you have purchased. Since I have not purchased it, the software won't let me see it.

Click to expand...

I didn't quite understand the difference between 'slip out of hands' and 'slip from hands.' Are they interchangeable? Coincidentally my phone actually slipped out/from my phone when I was about to write this post.

"Slip out of my hands" means this change:
- Before: it was held in my hands
- After: it was not, because it slipped

"Slip from my hands" means this change:
- Before: I was holding it in my hands
- After: I was not holding it, because it slipped

So there is not much difference between them.

Ashraful Haque said:

Coincidentally my phone actually slipped out/from my phone when I was about to write this post.

Click to expand...

How did your phone slip from itself? I think there is a mistake in this sentence.

dojibear said:

How did your phone slip from itself? I think there is a mistake in this sentence.

Click to expand...

Sorry it should've been 'hand' instead.

dojibear said:

"Slip out of my hands" means this change:
- Before: it was held in my hands
- After: it was not, because it slipped

"Slip from my hands" means this change:
- Before: I was holding it in my hands
- After: I was not holding it, because it slipped

So there is not much difference between them.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the answer. I think 'out' is easier for me to remember since it was '

my hand' in the first place. But can you think of any occasion where they would entirely change the intended meaning?

Ashraful Haque said:

But can you think of any occasion where they would entirely change the intended meaning?

Click to expand...

There’s nothing more I can do about it. The decision has been taken out of my hands.​

The audience loved your comedy act. You had them eating out of your hands.​

Thank you guys very much. I hope it's correct to say:
- "The bottle was in my hand and it slipped/fell out when she pushed me."

And I hope it's also always 'off' for 'on.' For example:
-The glass fell off the table.