tip off

secretly warn someone about something, especially something illegal

B2

What does "tip sb off" mean?

To tip someone off means to secretly give them advance information about something — usually something illegal or sensitive — so they can take action or protect themselves. The warning is typically passed on quietly and informally, often by someone with inside knowledge, such as a witness, an informant, or someone connected to the people involved. This phrasal verb is strongly associated with crime and law enforcement contexts: the police might be tipped off about a planned robbery, or a suspect might be tipped off that a raid is coming. The key quality is the clandestine, back-channel nature of the warning — if someone makes an official or open report, you would not normally use 'tip off'. It appears frequently in news articles and crime reporting, and the noun form 'tip-off' (hyphenated) is just as common and useful to know.

Examples

How to use it

tip off + person/organisation

The most straightforward pattern, used when the object is a noun phrase. Short noun phrases can also appear between the verb and particle.

An anonymous source tipped off investigators before the arrests were made.

tip + pronoun + off

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between 'tip' and 'off' — placing it after the particle is not possible.

She knew about the planned inspection and tipped them off the night before.

tip + person + off + about + something

Use 'about' to specify the information that was passed on.

Someone tipped the customs officers off about the shipment before it arrived.

be tipped off (by + source)

The passive is very natural and common, especially in journalism. The source is often left out or described vaguely.

The authorities were tipped off by an anonymous caller and intercepted the vehicle.

want to / try to / plan to + tip + object + off

Used when the tipping off is intended or attempted rather than completed.

He tried to tip his associates off before the police arrived, but it was too late.

Common Collocations

tip off the policetip off the authoritiestip off investigatorsreceive a tip-offact on a tip-offanonymous tip-off

Common Mistakes

Pronoun placed after the particle

When the object is a pronoun like 'him', 'her', or 'them', it must come between 'tip' and 'off'. Placing it after 'off' is ungrammatical.

✗ Someone tipped off them before the raid.
✓ Someone tipped them off before the raid.
Confusing 'tip off' with 'warn off'

'Tip off' means secretly alerting someone so they can take action, while 'warn off' means discouraging someone from doing something, usually more directly and openly. They are not interchangeable.

✗ The police tried to warn off the journalists about the sting operation.
✓ The police tried to tip off the journalists about the sting operation.
Using 'tip off' for open or official warnings

'Tip off' implies a secret, informal, back-channel warning — not an official report or a straightforward public alert. Using it for openly declared warnings sounds unnatural.

✗ The fire department tipped off residents by broadcasting an emergency announcement.
✓ An insider tipped off residents about the planned evacuation before any official statement was made.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral in register and appears in both spoken English and written journalism. The noun form 'tip-off' (hyphenated) is equally common and useful to know — for example, 'Police received an anonymous tip-off.'

Frequently Asked Questions

Can 'tip off' be used in contexts that aren't about crime?

It's possible, but it sounds unusual. 'Tip off' almost always appears in contexts involving crime, illegal activity, or at least confidential information. If the information being shared is ordinary and the warning is open, a different verb like 'let someone know' or 'give someone a heads-up' would sound more natural.

What's the difference between 'tip off the police' and 'tip the police off'?

Both are correct and mean exactly the same thing. With short noun phrases, either word order works naturally. The separated form ('tip the police off') is slightly more common in informal speech, while 'tip off the police' is also widely used, especially in written contexts.

Is 'tip-off' used differently from 'tip off'?

'Tip-off' (with a hyphen) is the noun form and is extremely common, especially in headlines and journalism — for example, 'Police acted on an anonymous tip-off.' The verb form 'tip off' is used in sentences describing the action itself. Both forms are equally useful to know.

Can I use 'tipping off' in a sentence, like a continuous form?

It's best avoided in most cases. The present continuous ('is tipping off') sounds unnatural because 'tip off' usually describes a single completed action rather than an ongoing process. The simple past, present perfect, or infinitive forms are far more common and natural.

Who is usually the subject of 'tip off' — the informer or the police?

The subject is always the person giving the secret information, not the one receiving it. An informant, witness, or insider 'tips off' the police or authorities. However, because passive constructions are so common ('The police were tipped off...'), the informer often disappears from the sentence entirely.

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