dip Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a depression in an otherwise level surface
    • there was a dip in the road
  2. noun (physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon
    magnetic dip; angle of dip; inclination; magnetic inclination.
  3. noun a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places
    cutpurse; pickpocket.
  4. noun tasty mixture or liquid into which bite-sized foods are dipped
  5. noun a brief immersion
  6. noun a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity
    free fall; drop; fall.
    • a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index
    • there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery
    • a dip in prices
    • when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall
  7. noun a candle that is made by repeated dipping in a pool of wax or tallow
  8. noun a brief swim in water
    plunge.
  9. noun a gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered and raised by bending and straightening the arms
  10. verb immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
    dunk; souse; plunge; douse.
    • dip the garment into the cleaning solution
    • dip the brush into the paint
  11. verb dip into a liquid while eating
    dunk.
    • She dunked the piece of bread in the sauce
  12. verb go down momentarily
    • Prices dipped
  13. verb stain an object by immersing it in a liquid
  14. verb take a small amount from
    • I had to dip into my savings to buy him this present
  15. verb switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
    dim.
  16. verb lower briefly
    • She dipped her knee
  17. verb appear to move downward
    sink.
    • The sun dipped below the horizon
    • The setting sun sank below the tree line
  18. verb slope downwards
    • Our property dips towards the river
  19. verb dip into a liquid
    douse; duck.
    • He dipped into the pool
  20. verb place (candle wicks) into hot, liquid wax
  21. verb immerse in a disinfectant solution
    • dip the sheep
  22. verb plunge (one's hand or a receptacle) into a container
    • He dipped into his pocket
  23. verb scoop up by plunging one's hand or a ladle below the surface
    • dip water out of a container

WordNet

Dip transitive verb
Etymology
OE. dippen, duppen, AS. dyppan; akin to Dan. dyppe, Sw. doppa, and to AS. dpan to baptize, OS. dpian, D. doopen, G. taufen, Sw. döpa, Goth. daupjan, Lith. dubus deep, hollow, OSlav. dupl hollow, and to E. dive. Cf. Deep, Dive.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Dipped or Dipt (); present participle & verbal noun Dipping
Definitions
  1. To plunge or immerse; especially, to put for a moment into a liquid; to insert into a fluid and withdraw again.
    The priest shall dip his finger in the blood. Lev. iv. 6.
    [Wat'ry fowl] now dip their pinions in the briny deep. Pope.
    While the prime swallow dips his wing. Tennyson.
  2. To immerse for baptism; to baptize by immersion. Book of Common Prayer. Fuller.
  3. To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten. Poetic
    A cold shuddering dew Dips me all o'er. Milton.
  4. To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair.
    He was . . . dipt in the rebellion of the Commons. Dryden.
  5. To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; -- often with out; as, to dip water from a boiler; to dip out water.
  6. To engage as a pledge; to mortgage. Obs.
    Live on the use and never dip thy lands. Dryden.
Dip intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To immerse one's self; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.
    The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out. Coleridge.
  2. To perform the action of plunging some receptacle, as a dipper, ladle. etc.; into a liquid or a soft substance and removing a part.
    Whoever dips too deep will find death in the pot. L'Estrange.
  3. To pierce; to penetrate; -- followed by in or into.
    When I dipt into the future. Tennyson.
  4. To enter slightly or cursorily; to engage one's self desultorily or by the way; to partake limitedly; -- followed by in or into. "Dipped into a multitude of books." Macaulay.
  5. To incline downward from the plane of the horizon; as, strata of rock dip.
  6. To dip snuff. Southern U.S.
Dip noun
Definitions
  1. The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid. "The dip of oars in unison." Glover.
  2. Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.
  3. A liquid, as a sauce or gravy, served at table with a ladle or spoon. Local, U.S. Bartlett.
  4. A dipped candle. Colloq. Marryat.

Webster 1913