dip

dip¹

—dippable, adj., n.

/dip/, v., dipped or (Archaic) dipt; dipping; n.

v.t.

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.

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

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

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

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

7. Archaic. to baptize by immersion.

8. Obs. to moisten or wet as if by immersion.

v.i.

9. to plunge into water or other liquid and emerge quickly: The boat dipped into the waves.

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

11. to withdraw something, esp. in small amounts (usually fol. by in or into): to dip into savings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

n.

18. the act of dipping.

19. that which is taken up by dipping.

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

21. a scoop of ice cream.

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

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

24. a momentary lowering; a sinking down.

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

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

27. the amount of such extension.

28. a hollow or depression in the land.

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

30. Geol., Mining. the downward inclination of a vein or stratum with reference to the horizontal.

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

32. 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.

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

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

35. 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.

36. Slang. a pickpocket.

37. at the dip, Naut. not fully raised; halfway up the halyard: an answering pennant flown at the dip. Cf. close (def. 65b).

[bef. 1000; ME dippen (v.), OE dyppan; akin to G taufen to baptize, and to DEEP]

Syn. 1. duck. 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. 2. scoop. 9. dive.

dip²

/dip/, n. Slang.

dipsomaniac.

[by shortening]

dip³

/dip/, n. Slang.

a naive, foolish, or obnoxious person.

[prob. back formation from DIPPY]

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