dimple

[ dim-puh l ]

/ ˈdɪm pəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dimple ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, natural hollow area or crease, permanent or transient, in some soft part of the human body, especially one formed in the cheek in smiling.

any similar slight depression.

verb (used with object), dim·pled, dim·pling.

to mark with or as if with dimples; produce dimples in: A smile dimpled her face.

Metalworking.

to dent (a metal sheet) so as to permit use of bolts or rivets with countersunk heads.
to mark (a metal object) with a drill point as a guide for further drilling.

verb (used without object), dim·pled, dim·pling.

to form or show dimples.

Nearby words

dimorph, dimorphism, dimorphite, dimorphous, dimp, dimple, dimpling, dimpsy, dimwit, din, din-din

Origin of dimple

1350–1400; Middle English dimpel, Old English *dympel; cognate with German Tümpel pool

Related forms

dim·ply, adjectiveun·dim·pled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dimple

When the salt starts to pop (from the water trapped in the salt crystal), slap down your burger, dimple side up.
The Perfect Burger (Sans Bun)|Deborah Krasner|November 1, 2010|DAILY BEAST
One has a dimple in his cheek, and the other is a little smaller of the two.
Miss Billy Married|Eleanor H. Porter
They were best of the dimple family—not fat dimples, but little spots you'd like to own.
Plain Mary Smith|Henry Wallace Phillips
Ah, Dimple, you don't know how fine it is on that upper porch.
A Sweet Little Maid|Amy E. Blanchard

My fair vis-a-vis looked me now full in the face and smiled, so that a dimple in her right cheek was plainly visible.
The Way of a Man|Emerson Hough
Certainly her dimple deepened a little as she relinquished the forlorn object.
Three Margarets|Laura E. Richards

British Dictionary definitions for dimple

dimple

/ (ˈdɪmpəl) /

noun

a small natural dent or crease in the flesh, esp on the cheeks or chin

any slight depression in a surface

a bubble or dent in glass

verb

to make or become dimpled

(intr) to produce dimples by smiling

Derived Forms

dimply, adjective

Word Origin for dimple

C13 dympull; compare Old English dyppan to dip, German Tümpel pool

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

Medicine definitions for dimple

dimple

[ dĭm′pəl ]

n.

A small natural indentation in the chin, cheek, or sacral region, probably due to some developmental fault in the subcutaneous connective tissue or in underlying bone.

A depression of similar appearance resulting from trauma or the contraction of scar tissue.

Related forms

dim′ple v.