dip
/dɪp/ noun, verb
Forms dips dipping dipped the DIP
- noun A lower section of a road or geological feature. “There is a dip in the road ahead.”
- noun Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.
- noun The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid.
- noun A tank or trough where cattle or sheep are immersed in chemicals to kill parasites.
- noun A dip stick.
- noun A swim, usually a short swim to refresh. “I’m going for a dip before breakfast.”
- noun (slang, dated) A pickpocket.
- noun A sauce for dipping. “This onion dip is just scrumptious.”
- verb (transitive) To lower into a liquid. “Dip your biscuit into your tea.”
- verb (intransitive) To immerse oneself; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.
- verb (intransitive) (of a value or rate) To decrease slightly.
- verb (transitive) To lower a light's beam. “Dip your lights as you meet an oncoming car.”
- verb (transitive) To lower (a flag), particularly a national ensign, to a partially hoisted position in order to render or to return a salute. While lowered, the flag is said to be “at the dip.” A flag being carried on a staff may be dipped by leaning it forward at an approximate angle of 45 degrees. “The sailor rushed to the flag hoist to dip the flag in return.”
- verb (transitive) To treat cattle or sheep by immersion in chemical solution. “The farmer is going to dip the cattle today.”
- verb (transitive) To use a dip stick to check oil level in an engine.
- verb To consume snuff by placing a pinch behind the lip or under the tongue in order to absorb the desired chemical constituents. “He started dipping years ago.”
- noun (informal) A foolish person.
- noun (informal) A diplomat.
- noun (ABDL, informal, uncommon) A diaper; diap, dipe.
Synonyms
chewing tobacco snuff pack a lip diap diapee diapy diapie didee didie diddy didy dipe hippins napkin nappy pamper Pampers gamer pants gaming pants omutsu angle of dip magnetic dip magnetic inclination inclination pickpocket cutpurse drop fall free fall plunge
Etymology
From Middle English dippen, from Old English dyppan, from Proto-West Germanic *duppjan, from Proto-Germanic *dupjaną; see *daupijaną (“to dip”). Related to deep.
Back-formation from dippy.
Shortenings.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To plunge or immerse; especially, to put for a moment into a liquid; to insert into a fluid and withdraw again.
- verb To immerse for baptism; to baptize by immersion. Book of Common Prayer. Fuller.
- verb To immerse one's self; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.
- verb To perform the action of plunging some receptacle, as a dipper, ladle. etc.; into a liquid or a soft substance and removing a part.
Etymology [OE. dippen, duppen, AS. dyppan; akin to Dan. dyppe, Sw. doppa, and to AS. d to baptize, OS. d, D. doopen, G. taufen, Sw. döpa, Goth. daupjan, Lith. dubus deep, hollow, OSlav. dupl hollow, and to E. dive. Cf. Deep, Dive.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dip”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details