dip

¹ American  

[dip] / dɪp /

noun

Slang.

1. dipsomaniac.

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DIP ² American  

[dip] / dɪp /

noun

Computers.

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

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dip ³ American  

[dip] / dɪp /

noun

Slang.

1. a naive, foolish, or obnoxious person.

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dip ⁴ American  

[dip] / dɪp /

verb (used with object)

dipped, dipt, dipping

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.

   Synonyms:

   duck

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.

   Synonyms:

   scoop

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

7. Archaic. to baptize by immersion.

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

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verb (used without object)

dipped, dipt, dipping

1. to plunge into water or other liquid and emerge quickly.

   The boat dipped into the waves.

   Synonyms:

   dive

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 orinto ).

   He dipped into the jar for an olive.

3. to withdraw something, especially in small amounts (usually followed by in orinto ).

   to dip into savings.

4. to sink or drop down.

   The sun dipped below the horizon.

5. to incline or slope downward.

   At that point the road dips into a valley.

6. to decrease slightly or temporarily.

   Stock-market prices often dip on Fridays.

7. to engage slightly in a subject (often followed by in orinto ).

   to dip into astronomy.

8. to read here and there in a book, subject, or author's work (often followed by in orinto ).

   to dip into Plato.

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

noun

1. the act of dipping.

2. that which is taken up by dipping.

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

4. a scoop of ice cream.

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

6. 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.

7. a momentary lowering; a sinking down.

8. a moderate or temporary decrease.

   a dip in stock-market prices.

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

10. the amount of such extension.

11. a hollow or depression in the land.

12. a brief swim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. 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.

19. Slang. a pickpocket.

idioms

1. at the dip, not fully raised; halfway up the halyard.

   an answering pennant flown at the dip.

dip ¹ British  

/ dɪp /

verb

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

3. (intr) to slope downwards

   the land dips towards the river

4. (intr) to sink or appear to sink quickly

   the sun dipped below the horizon

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

6. (tr)

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

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

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

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

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

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

11. to lower or be lowered briefly

    she dipped her knee in a curtsy

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

13. (intr) to plunge a container, the hands, etc, into something, esp to obtain or retrieve an object

    he dipped in his pocket for money

14. (intr; foll by in or into) to dabble (in); play (at)

    he dipped into black magic

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

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

17. (in children's games) to select (a leader, etc) by reciting any of various rhymes

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

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noun

1. the act of dipping or state of being dipped

2. a brief swim in water

3. 1. any liquid chemical preparation in which poultry, sheep, etc are dipped

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

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

5. a depression, esp in a landscape

6. something taken up by dipping

7. a container used for dipping; dipper

8. a momentary sinking down

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

10. 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

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

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

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

14. a momentary loss of altitude when flying

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

16. a slang word for pickpocket

dip. ² British  

abbreviation

1. diploma

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dip Scientific  

/ dĭp /

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

2. See magnetic inclination

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Usage

What is a basic definition of dip? Dip means to plunge something quickly in a liquid or to sink or go downward. A dip is a creamy mixture that chips or other foods are scooped into. Dip has many other senses as a verb and a noun.When something is dipped into a liquid, it is usually only submerged for a short time to soak up some liquid.

• Real-life examples: Candy or scoops of ice cream may be dipped in chocolate or caramel. A paint brush is dipped in paint. A thermometer might be dipped in a pool to measure temperature.
• Used in a sentence: I dipped my foot in the pool to see how cold it was. 

Dip can also mean to descend or go down, especially temporarily.

• Real-life examples: Temperatures dip when it becomes cold. Prices tend to dip during the holidays. A company’s stock value may dip.
• Used in a sentence: Oil prices dipped after the announcement of a new line of electric cars. 

Dips are creamy mixes that foods are dipped into. In this sense, another noun is often used as a modifier to specify what the main ingredients of the dip are, as in a cheese dip or a buffalo chicken dip. Grocery stores sell popular dips, but many dips are homemade.

• Used in a sentence: I know how to make a pretty good spinach dip.

Related Words

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 Word Forms

• dippable adjective
• undipped adjective

Etymology

Origin of dip¹

First recorded in 1910–15; by shortening

Origin of DIP¹

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

Origin of dip¹

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

Origin of dip¹

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

Example Sentences

Strasbourg's Ligue 1 form has dipped in recent months though, with only one win in the past six Ligue 1 games.

From BBC

Muckle is primarily invested in index funds but regularly buys the dip in individual stocks, he said, sometimes waiting to see negative headlines about a company or sector before swooping in.

From The Wall Street Journal

Dan and his partner Anna, 40, were celebrating the new year with a cold water dip when the accident happened.

From BBC

With temperatures dipping, campers are urged to use weather-rated sleeping bags.

From Los Angeles Times

With his head dipped and voice low, Soto-Parada pleaded “culpable” through a Spanish interpreter as he forfeited his right to a trial.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• decline
• drop down
• fall
• go down
• nose-dive
• plummet
• plunge
• reach
• recede
• sag
• sink
• skid
• slip
• slump
• spiral
• tumble