dip

1
[ dip ]
See synonyms for dip on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),dipped or (Archaic) dipt [dipt]; /dɪpt/; dip·ping.
  1. to plunge (something, as a cloth or sponge) temporarily into a liquid, so as to moisten it, dye it, or cause it to take up some of the liquid: He dipped the brush into the paint bucket.

  2. to raise or take up by a bailing, scooping, or ladling action: to dip water out of a boat; to dip ice cream from a container.

  1. to lower and raise: to dip a flag in salutation.

  2. to immerse (a sheep, hog, etc.) in a solution to destroy germs, parasites, or the like.

  3. to make (a candle) by repeatedly plunging a wick into melted tallow or wax.

  4. Nautical. to lower and rehoist (a yard of a lugsail) when coming about in tacking.

  5. Archaic. to baptize by immersion.

  6. Obsolete. to moisten or wet as if by immersion.

verb (used without object),dipped or (Archaic) dipt [dipt]; /dɪpt/; dip·ping.
  1. to plunge into water or other liquid and emerge quickly: The boat dipped into the waves.

  2. to put the hand, a dipper, etc., down into a liquid or a container, especially in order to remove something (often followed by in or into): He dipped into the jar for an olive.

  1. to withdraw something, especially in small amounts (usually followed by in or into): to dip into savings.

  2. to sink or drop down: The sun dipped below the horizon.

  3. to incline or slope downward: At that point the road dips into a valley.

  4. to decrease slightly or temporarily: Stock-market prices often dip on Fridays.

  5. to engage slightly in a subject (often followed by in or into): to dip into astronomy.

  6. to read here and there in a book, subject, or author's work (often followed by in or into): to dip into Plato.

  7. South Midland and Southern U.S. to take snuff.

noun
  1. the act of dipping.

  2. that which is taken up by dipping.

  1. a quantity taken up by dipping; the amount that a scoop, ladle, dipper, etc., will hold.

  2. a scoop of ice cream.

  3. Chiefly Northern U.S. a liquid or soft substance into which something is dipped.

  4. a creamy mixture of savory foods for scooping with potato chips, crackers, and the like, often served as an hors d'oeuvre, especially with cocktails.

  5. a momentary lowering; a sinking down.

  6. a moderate or temporary decrease: a dip in stock-market prices.

  7. a downward extension, inclination, slope, or course.

  8. the amount of such extension.

  9. a hollow or depression in the land.

  10. a brief swim: She took a dip in the ocean and then sat on the beach for an hour.

  11. Geology, Mining. the downward inclination of a vein or stratum with reference to the horizontal.

  12. the angular amount by which the horizon lies below the level of the eye.

  13. Also called angle of dip, inclination, magnetic dip, magnetic inclination. the angle that a freely rotating magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon.

  14. a short, downward plunge, as of an airplane.

  15. a candle made by repeatedly dipping a wick into melted tallow or wax.

  16. Gymnastics. an exercise on the parallel bars in which the elbows are bent until the chin is on a level with the bars, and then the body is elevated by straightening the arms.

  17. Slang. a pickpocket.

Idioms about dip

  1. at the dip, Nautical. not fully raised; halfway up the halyard: an answering pennant flown at the dip.: Compare close (def. 70b).

Origin of dip

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb dippen, duppen “to dip, moisten, plunge,”Old English dyppan “to baptize”; akin to German taufen “to baptize,” and to deep

synonym study For dip

1. Dip, immerse, plunge refer to putting something into liquid. To dip is to put down into a liquid quickly or partially and lift out again: to dip a finger into water to test the temperature. Immerse denotes a lowering into a liquid until covered by it: to immerse meat in salt water. Plunge adds a suggestion of force or suddenness to the action of dipping: to plunge a chicken into boiling water before stripping off the feathers.

Other words for dip

Other words from dip

  • dip·pa·ble, adjective, noun
  • un·dipped, adjective

Words Nearby dip

Other definitions for dip (2 of 4)

dip2
[ dip ]

nounSlang.

Origin of dip

2
First recorded in 1910–15; by shortening

Other definitions for dip (3 of 4)

dip3
[ dip ]

nounSlang.
  1. a naive, foolish, or obnoxious person.

Origin of dip

3
First recorded in 1925–30; probably back formation from dippy

Other definitions for DIP (4 of 4)

DIP
[ dip ]

nounComputers.
  1. a packaged chip that connects to a circuit board by means of pins.

Origin of DIP

4
d(ual)i(n-line)p(ackage)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dip in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dip (1 of 2)

dip

/ (dɪp) /


verbdips, dipping or dipped
  1. to plunge or be plunged quickly or briefly into a liquid, esp to wet or coat

  2. (intr) to undergo a slight decline, esp temporarily: sales dipped in November

  1. (intr) to slope downwards: the land dips towards the river

  2. (intr) to sink or appear to sink quickly: the sun dipped below the horizon

  3. (tr) to switch (car headlights) from the main to the lower beam: US and Canadian word: dim

  4. (tr)

    • to immerse (poultry, sheep, etc) briefly in a liquid chemical to rid them of or prevent infestation by insects, etc

    • to immerse (grain, vegetables, or wood) in a preservative liquid

  5. (tr) to stain or dye by immersing in a liquid

  6. (tr) to baptize (someone) by immersion

  7. (tr) to plate or galvanize (a metal, etc) by immersion in an electrolyte or electrolytic cell

  8. (tr) to scoop up a liquid or something from a liquid in the hands or in a container

  9. to lower or be lowered briefly: she dipped her knee in a curtsy

  10. (tr) to make (a candle) by plunging the wick into melted wax

  11. (intr) to plunge a container, the hands, etc, into something, esp to obtain or retrieve an object: he dipped in his pocket for money

  12. (intr; foll by in or into) to dabble (in); play (at): he dipped into black magic

  13. (intr) (of an aircraft) to drop suddenly and then regain height

  14. (intr) (of a rock stratum or mineral vein) to slope downwards from the horizontal

  15. (intr often foll by for) (in children's games) to select (a leader, etc) by reciting any of various rhymes

  16. (tr) slang to pick (a person's) pocket

noun
  1. the act of dipping or state of being dipped

  2. a brief swim in water

    • any liquid chemical preparation in which poultry, sheep, etc are dipped

    • any liquid preservative into which objects, esp of wood, are dipped

  1. a preparation of dyeing agents into which fabric is immersed

  2. a depression, esp in a landscape

  3. something taken up by dipping

  4. a container used for dipping; dipper

  5. a momentary sinking down

  6. the angle of slope of rock strata, fault planes, etc, from the horizontal plane

  7. Also called: angle of dip, magnetic dip, inclination the angle between the direction of the earth's magnetic field and the plane of the horizon; the angle that a magnetic needle free to swing in a vertical plane makes with the horizontal

  8. a creamy mixture into which pieces of food are dipped before being eaten

  9. surveying the angular distance of the horizon below the plane of observation

  10. a candle made by plunging a wick repeatedly into wax

  11. a momentary loss of altitude when flying

  12. (in gymnastics) a chinning exercise on the parallel bars

  13. a slang word for pickpocket

Origin of dip

1
Old English dyppan; related to Old High German tupfen to wash, German taufen to baptize; see deep

British Dictionary definitions for dip. (2 of 2)

dip.

abbreviation for
  1. diploma

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for dip

dip

[ dĭp ]


  1. The downward inclination of a rock stratum or vein in reference to the plane of the horizon.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.