Adjacent Words

Dive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIVE, v.i. [Gr.]
1. To descend or plunge into water, as an animal head first; to thrust the body into water or other liquor, or if already in water, to plunge deeper. In the pearl fishery men are employed to dive for shells.
2. To go deep into any subject; as, to dive into the nature of things, into arts or science.
3. To plunge into any business or condition, so as to be thoroughly engaged in it.
4. To sink; to penetrate.
Dive, thought, down to my soul.
DIVE, v.t. To explore by diving. [Rare.]
The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall [syn: honkytonk, dive]
2: a headlong plunge into water [syn: dive, diving]
3: a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft [syn: dive, nose dive, nosedive] v
1: drop steeply; "the stock market plunged" [syn: dive, plunge, plunk]
2: plunge into water; "I was afraid to dive from the board into the pool"
3: swim under water; "the children enjoyed diving and looking for shells"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (dived or dove; dived; also dove; diving) Etymology: Middle English diven, duven, from Old English dy?fan to dip & d?fan to dive; akin to Old English dyppan to dip — more at dip Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. a. to plunge into water intentionally and especially headfirst; also to execute a dive b. submerge <the submarine dived> 2. a. to come or drop down precipitously ; plunge <the temperature is diving> b. to plunge one's hand into something c. of an airplane to descend in a dive 3. a. to plunge into some matter or activity <she dove into her studies> b. to plunge or dash for some place <diving for cover>; also to lunge especially in order to seize something <dove for the ball> transitive verb 1. to thrust into something 2. to cause to dive <dive a submarine> Usage: Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a past tense dove, probably by analogy with verbs like drive, drove. Dove exists in some British dialects and has become the standard past tense especially in speech in some parts of Canada. In the United States dived and dove are both widespread in speech as past tense and past participle, with dove less common than dived in the south Midland area, and dived less common than dove in the Northern and north Midland areas. In writing, the past tense dived is usual in British English and somewhat more common in American English. Dove seems relatively rare as a past participle in writing. II. noun Date: 1700 1. the act or an instance of diving: as a. (1) a plunge into water executed in a prescribed manner (2) a submerging of a submarine (3) a steep descent of an airplane at greater than the maximum horizontal speed b. a sharp decline 2. a shabby and disreputable establishment (as a bar or nightclub) 3. a faked knockout — usually used in the phrase take a dive 4. an offensive play in football in which the ballcarrier plunges into the line for short yardage

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (dived or US dove) 1 intr. plunge head first into water, esp. as a sport. 2 intr. a Aeron. (of an aircraft) plunge steeply downwards at speed. b Naut. (of a submarine) submerge. c (of a person) plunge downwards. 3 intr. (foll. by into) colloq. a put one's hand into (a pocket, handbag, vessel, etc.) quickly and deeply. b occupy oneself suddenly and enthusiastically with (a subject, meal, etc.). 4 tr. (foll. by into) plunge (a hand etc.) into. --n. 1 an act of diving; a plunge. 2 a the submerging of a submarine. b the steep descent of an aircraft. 3 a sudden darting movement. 4 colloq. a disreputable nightclub etc.; a drinking-den (found themselves in a low dive). 5 Boxing sl. a pretended knockout (took a dive in the second round). Phrases and idioms: dive-bomb bomb (a target) while diving in an aircraft. dive-bomber an aircraft designed to dive-bomb. dive in colloq. help oneself (to food). diving-bell an open-bottomed box or bell, supplied with air, in which a person can descend into deep water. diving-board an elevated board used for diving from. diving-suit a watertight suit usu. with a helmet and an air-supply, worn for working under water. Etymology: OE dufan (v.intr.) dive, sink, and dyfan (v.tr.) immerse, f. Gmc: rel. to DEEP, DIP

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Diva Di"va (d[=e]"v[.a]), n.; It. pl. Dive (d[=e]"v[=a]). [It., prop. fem. of divo divine, L. divus.] A prima donna.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dive Dive, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dived, colloq. Dove, a relic of the AS. strong forms de['a]f, dofen; p. pr. & vb. n. Diving.] [OE. diven, duven, AS. d?fan to sink, v. t., fr. d?fan, v. i.; akin to Icel. d?fa, G. taufen, E. dip, deep, and perh. to dove, n. Cf. Dip.] 1. To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid. It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. --Whately. Note: The colloquial form dove is common in the United States as an imperfect tense form. All [the walruses] dove down with a tremendous splash. --Dr. Hayes. When closely pressed it [the loon] dove . . . and left the young bird sitting in the water. --J. Burroughs. 2. Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore. --South.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dive Dive, v. t. 1. To plunge (a person or thing) into water; to dip; to duck. [Obs.] --Hooker. 2. To explore by diving; to plunge into. [R.] The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame. --Denham. He dives the hollow, climbs the steeps. --Emerson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dive Dive, n. 1. A plunge headforemost into water, the act of one who dives, literally or figuratively. 2. A place of low resort. [Slang] The music halls and dives in the lower part of the city. --J. Hawthorne.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dives, diving, dived) 1. If you dive into some water, you jump in head-first with your arms held straight above your head. He tried to escape by diving into a river... She was standing by a pool, about to dive in... Joanne had just learnt to dive. VERB: V into n, V in, V • Dive is also a noun. Pat had earlier made a dive of 80 feet from the Chasm Bridge. N-COUNT 2. If you dive, you go under the surface of the sea or a lake, using special breathing equipment. Bezanik is diving to collect marine organisms. VERB: V • Dive is also a noun. This sighting occurred during my dive to a sunken wreck off Sardinia. N-COUNT 3. When birds and animals dive, they go quickly downwards, head-first, through the air or through water. ...a pelican which had just dived for a fish... VERB: V 4. If an aeroplane dives, it flies or drops down quickly and suddenly. He was killed when his monoplane stalled and dived into the ground. VERB: V prep/adv, also V • Dive is also a noun. Witnesses said the plane failed to pull out of a dive and smashed down in a field. N-COUNT 5. If you dive in a particular direction or into a particular place, you jump or move there quickly. They dived into a taxi... = leap VERB: V prep/adv • Dive is also a noun. He made a sudden dive for Uncle Jim's legs to try to trip him up. N-COUNT 6. If you dive into a bag or container, you put your hands into it quickly in order to get something out. She dived into her bag and brought out a folded piece of paper. VERB: V into n 7. If shares, profits, or figures dive, their value falls suddenly and by a large amount. (JOURNALISM) If we cut interest rates, the pound would dive... Profits have dived from £7.7m to £7.1m... The shares dived 22p to 338p. VERB: V, V from/to/by amount, V amount • Dive is also a noun. Stock prices took a dive. N-COUNT 8. If you describe a bar or club as a dive, you mean it is dirty and dark, and not very respectable. (INFORMAL) N-COUNT [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Plunge, make or take a plunge take a header. 2. Penetrate, go deep, plunge, explore, sound, fathom.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To dive; to pick a pocket. To dive for a dinner; to go down into a cellar to dinner. A dive, is a thief who stands ready to receive goods thrown out to him by a little boy put in at a window. Cant.

Foolish Dictionary

A gambler's retreat.

Moby Thesaurus

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