Showing results for "dive"

• plural of diva.

dive

American  

[dahyv] / daɪv /

verb (used without object)

• dives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dived,
  past participle,  past
• dove,
  past participle,  past
• diving
  present participle

1. to plunge into water, especially headfirst.

2. to go below the surface of the water, as a submarine.

3. to plunge, fall, or descend through the air, into the earth, etc..

   The acrobats dived into nets.

4. Aeronautics. (of an airplane) to descend rapidly.

5. to penetrate suddenly into something, as with the hand.

   to dive into one's purse.

6. to dart.

   to dive into a doorway.

7. to enter deeply or plunge into a subject, activity, etc.

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verb (used with object)

• dives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dived,
  past participle,  past
• dove,
  past participle,  past
• diving
  present participle

1. to cause to plunge, submerge, or descend.

2. to insert quickly; plunge.

   He dived his hand into his pocket.

noun

• dives
  plural

1. an act or instance of diving.

2. a jump or plunge into water, especially in a prescribed way from a diving board.

3. the vertical or nearly vertical descent of an airplane at a speed surpassing the possible speed of the same plane in level flight.

4. a submerging, as of a submarine or skin diver.

5. a dash, plunge, or lunge, as if throwing oneself at or into something.

   He made a dive for the football.

6. a sudden or sharp decline, as in stock prices.

7. Slang.

   1. a dingy or disreputable bar or nightclub.

      Grab a beer with some locals at the dive on the corner.

   2. any shabby, run-down place, especially a residence.

8. Boxing. a false show of being knocked out, usually in a bout whose result has been prearranged.

   to take a dive in an early round.

9. Also called simulated contact.  Soccer. a dramatic fall or feigned injury intended to persuade officials to penalize the opposing team.

   His dive fooled the ref into giving his team a free kick.

dive British  

/ daɪv /

verb

1. to plunge headfirst into water

2. (of a submarine, swimmer, etc) to submerge under water

3. (also tr) to fly (an aircraft) in a steep nose-down descending path, or (of an aircraft) to fly in such a path

4. to rush, go, or reach quickly, as in a headlong plunge

   he dived for the ball

5. (also tr; foll by in or into) to dip or put (one's hand) quickly or forcefully (into)

   to dive into one's pocket

6. to involve oneself (in something), as in eating food

7. slang soccer (of a footballer) to pretend to have been tripped or impeded by an opposing player in order to win a free kick or penalty

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noun

1. a headlong plunge into water, esp one of several formalized movements executed as a sport

2. an act or instance of diving

3. a steep nose-down descent of an aircraft

4. slang a disreputable or seedy bar or club

5. slang boxing the act of a boxer pretending to be knocked down or out

   he took a dive in the fourth round

6. slang soccer the act of a player pretending to have been tripped or impeded

Usage

Both dived and dove are standard as the past tense of dive. Dived, historically the older form, is somewhat more common in edited writing, but dove occurs there so frequently that it also must be considered standard: The rescuer dove into 20 feet of icy water. Dove is an Americanism that probably developed by analogy with alternations like drive, drove and ride, rode. It is the more common form in speech in the northern United States and in Canada, and its use seems to be spreading. The past participle of dive is always dived.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underdive
  noun
• underdive
  verb (used without object)
• postdive
  adjective
• predive
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dives
  plural

Participles

• diving
  present
• dived
  past
• dove
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dive
  simple
• dives
  simple
• have dived
  perfect
• have dove
  perfect
• has dived
  perfect
• has dove
  perfect
• am diving
  progressive
• are diving
  progressive
• is diving
  progressive
• have been diving
  perfect progressive
• has been diving
  perfect progressive

Past

• dived
  simple
• dove
  simple
• had dived
  perfect
• had dove
  perfect
• was diving
  progressive
• were diving
  progressive
• had been diving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dive
  simple
• will have dived
  perfect
• will have dove
  perfect
• will be diving
  progressive
• will have been diving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dive

First recorded before 900; Middle English diven “to dive, dip,” Old English dȳfan “to dip” (causative of dūfan “to dive, sink”); cognate with Old Norse dȳfa “to dip,” German taufen “to baptize”; akin to dip ¹

Explanation

To dive is to jump head first into the water. You might dare your friend to dive off a boat into a cold lake. When you dive, you plunge into a pool or other body of water. A bird or airplane also dives when it descends suddenly. The plunge or drop itself is also a dive: "When the plane went into a dive I had to close my eyes." Since 1871, dive has also been used informally for a low-rent or slightly dangerous bar, possibly from the idea that descending to a basement-level establishment involved a "dive" of sorts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dive dives dived dove diving

A deep dive into the market for legacy sports franchises indicates to Sports Value Consulting co-founder and chief executive Michael Rapkoch that the investment is sound.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

A delicious deep dive on a chicken-finger empire: Raising Cane’s has inspired a near-religious following, with devotees traveling across state lines and camping overnight for store openings, all to worship at the altar of chicken.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

But for anyone to dive deeper, the movie first had to get people’s eyes.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Enrollments are forecast to take a dive in coming years, but that won’t necessarily make admission less competitive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

“We got a long dive in front of us. I need to be in sheep shape.”

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

This story is part of Image’s August Adornment issue, which dives into loud, expressive and distinctive accessories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Some perform feats of strength, flips, aerial dance moves, head-first dives.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

Mr. Ballard, a longtime journalist for Sports Illustrated, dives into the history and finds figures, such as Euripides and Benjamin Franklin, who extolled its health benefits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Subsequent dives to the site documented extensive damage.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

He dives on the doorknob and turns it.

From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor

Four ocean rescue swimmers jumped into the ocean and dived down to the submerged vehicle, where they were able to successfully extract the victim, who was later identified by her family as Alli Renee Singh.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index dived to 49.2 this month from June’s 50.3, according to data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

While still only 30 years old, Phillips' career has nose dived since joining City from Leeds in 2022, playing just seven minutes of EFL Cup action for the club over the past two seasons.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Tokyo's Nikkei tanked four percent as Kioxia shed more than 18 percent, while Advantest and Tokyo Electron dived 10 percent and 11 percent respectively.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

She had a fish in her mouth, but she swallowed it fast and dived toward the beach.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

A survey of the Blean will focus on six endangered species that are found there, including the the heath fritillary butterfly, one of the UK's rarest, and the turtle dove.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Despite having been in basic training only eight months, he knew what that meant, and dove for the floor.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Warsh may be more of a dove on rates than he appears at first glance.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

Juan, a handyman and cook, dove into the lake to rescue his 14-year-old autistic son, Kevin.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

Duke was so riled up, he charged to the edge of the deck and dove off.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

PayPal stock was diving on a report that takeover talks have ended but there is still reason for optimism.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

It’s been a success, despite one 300-pounder busting through the net around his basketball court and the diving board caving under the strain of a back-flip competition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Elsewhere, executives at Home Depot on Tuesday said that consumers were diving into smaller home-repair projects.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Packages that included tickets for artistic gymnastics, diving, swimming and beach volleyball appeared in an Aug. 19 search.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Despite this human disaster, the industry continued to thrive, but between the 1910s and the 1990s, developments took place that spelled the end of the glory days for sponge diving.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• dip
• disappear
• drop
• duck
• fall
• jump
• leap
• lunge
• nose-dive
• plummet
• plunge
• swoop
• vanish
• vault