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.

---

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

---

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

In this list, our writers recommend the best episodes that you can dive into right away—without having to commit to the whole series.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

That’s why people sell their stocks in a panic during a market correction and/or go heavy in gold, dive headfirst into bonds and cash vehicles instead, only to regret it later.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

The pilot managed to open the cockpit door, letting in a group of rescuers who subdued the co-pilot and pulled the plane out of a dangerous dive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

He attempted to dive on the ball, but he was hit in the back.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

I didn’t hear anything from the dive team.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Coming newsletters will take deeper dives into some of the more intriguing ballot measures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Researchers collected the newly described species between September 2023 and August 2024 during dives reaching depths of up to 18 meters.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026

At this point, the club will complete deeper dives into the remaining players, including diligence on their injury record, athletic performance and behavioural habits.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The goal, says Six Flags, is to provide an optimistic view of the future, albeit with many sudden dives and weightless moments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

“But first,” Marla says, and then dives into another story.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

And in Tokyo the Nikkei 225 shed more than five percent as Kioxia also dived more than 11 percent and Advantest plunged 14.5 percent.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Seoul's Kospi dived eight percent -- leading to a brief trading halt -- with SK hynix sinking more than 11 percent and Samsung more than 10 percent.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix passed for two second-half touchdowns and dived one yard for a touchdown with 47 seconds left.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 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

She wasn’t sure how to broach this subject, so she just dived right in.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton dove deep into his housing platform and lobbed a few attacks at his Democratic opponent, Xavier Becerra, during a town hall with Los Angeles news outlets Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Moments later, he dove into the end zone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

It dove out of the bottom of the strikezone, and Baldwin swung through it, ending the inning on a strikeout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

I heard a lot of stories like this as I dove into the world of medbeds.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

They dove thirty feet and then removed another three feet of sediment before uncovering one of the Hunley’s two small conning towers.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Bit by bit, Disney is continuing to shape itself into something more like its former nemesis, Netflix, including by diving more into the vertical-video and A.I. future while licensing visual podcasts as TV shows.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Today the islands are home to fewer than 50,000 people and are best known for beaches, diving and some World War II battlefields.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Companies are also diving much deeper into supply chains as they wrestle with tariffs and an increase in sanctions around the world, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

"As children, we used to spend all our summers swimming at the beach, having fun by the water, diving, jumping in and sometimes even fishing," the 76-year-old told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Jeju’s diving tradition dates as far back as 434 BCE, when it was an almost totally male occupation.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---