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DIP

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dip¹

  • /dɪp/

Rhymes with -ɪp

Where it comes from

From Middle English dippen, from Old English dyppan, from Proto-West Germanic *duppjan, from Proto-Germanic *dupjaną; see *daupijaną (“to dip”). Related to deep.

noun dips

  1. countable, uncountable A lower section of a road or geological feature. There is a dip in the road ahead.
  2. countable, uncountable Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.
  3. countable, uncountable The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid. With his precious charge / Embark'd, Sinicus gently ſteers along; / The dip of oars in uniſon awake / Without alarming ſilence; […]
  4. countable, uncountable A tank or trough where cattle or sheep are immersed in chemicals to kill parasites.
  5. countable, uncountable A dip stick.
  6. countable, uncountable A swim, usually a short swim to refresh. I’m going for a dip before breakfast.
  7. countable, dated, slang, uncountable A pickpocket. The Moocher was a "dip" in a dilettante sort of way, and his particular graft was boarding street-cars with his papers and grabbing women's pocket-books.
  8. countable, uncountable A sauce for dipping. This onion dip is just scrumptious.
  9. countable, uncountable The angle from horizontal of a planar geologic surface, such as a fault line.
  10. archaic, countable, uncountable A dipped candle. by the feeble light of the dip, he beheld the pale, haggard face of Smallbones
  11. countable, uncountable A move in many different styles of partner dances, often performed at the end of a dance, in which the follower leans far to the side and is supported by the leader.
  12. countable, uncountable A gymnastic or bodybuilding exercise on parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms.
  13. countable, uncountable The viscid exudation that is dipped out from incisions in the trees. Virgin dip is the runnings of the first year, yellow dip the runnings of subsequent years.
  14. countable, uncountable A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole.
  15. uncountable Finely ground tobacco, consumed by placing a small amount between the lip and gum. Packed a lip full of beluga caviar after mistaking a tin for a can of dip and then spat the juice into an urn that I thought was a sombre spittoon.
  16. colloquial, countable, uncountable The act of missing out on seeing a sought after bird. I'd missed them by a couple of hours. This dip did not bode well for the Hudwit.
  17. UK, dialectal, uncountable Fried bread. My Dad, God bless him, rarely cooked anything, but if he ever did he would make himself an egg banjo! Fried bread? Or ‘dip’?
  18. countable, informal, uncountable A financial asset in decline, seen as an investment opportunity. buy the dips

verb dips · dipping · dipped

  1. transitive To lower into a liquid. Dip your biscuit into your tea.
  2. intransitive To immerse oneself; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink. The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out.
  3. intransitive (of a value or rate) To decrease slightly.
  4. transitive To lower a light's beam. Dip your lights as you meet an oncoming car.
  5. 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.
  6. transitive To treat cattle or sheep by immersion in chemical solution. The farmer is going to dip the cattle today.
  7. transitive To use a dip stick to check oil level in an engine.
  8. To consume snuff by placing a pinch behind the lip or under the tongue in order to absorb the desired chemical constituents. Near-synonym: pack a lip
  9. transitive To immerse for baptism. new dipt Sectaries
  10. transitive To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten. A cold shuddering dew / Dips me all o'er.
  11. intransitive To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair. He was […] dipt in the rebellion of the Commons.
  12. transitive To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; often with out. to dip water from a boiler; to dip out water
  13. intransitive To perform the action of plunging a dipper, ladle. etc. into a liquid or soft substance and removing a part. Whoever dips too deep will find death in the pot.
  14. transitive To engage as a pledge; to mortgage. Live on the use and never dip thy lands.
  15. transitive To perform (a bow or curtsey) by inclining the body.
  16. intransitive To sink, drop, or slope downwards. The sun is dipping over the now dry and clear Cornish landscape, and is a conclusion to a good day.
  17. intransitive To incline downward from the plane of the horizon. Strata of rock dip.
  18. transitive To perform a dip dance move (often phrased with the leader as the subject noun and the follower as the subject noun being dipped)
  19. transitive To briefly lower the body by bending the knees while keeping the body in an upright position, usually in rhythm, as when singing or dancing.
  20. colloquial, intransitive To leave; to quit or abandon. When the time came, he dipped.
  21. colloquial To miss out on seeing a sought after bird. I assured him that I'd been birding long enough to know that there were no guarantees with birds and I wouldn't have held it against him if I'd dipped.

dip²

  • /dɪp/

Rhymes with -ɪp

Where it comes from

Back-formation from dippy.

noun dips

  1. informal A foolish person. A commander tells the soldiers, "We're going on a 5 mile run". And some dip asks, "Do we have to bring our kitbags?" At which point, the answer is yes. It wouldn't have been if the soldier hadn't asked the question.

dip³

  • /dɪp/

Rhymes with -ɪp

noun dips

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of device-independent pixel.device-independent pixel

dip⁴

  • /dɪp/

Rhymes with -ɪp

Where it comes from

Shortenings.

noun dips

  1. informal A diplomat.
  2. informal, uncommon A diaper; diap, dipe.

DIP⁵

noun DIPs

  1. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of dual in-line package.dual in-line package
  2. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of dependency inversion principle.dependency inversion principle
  3. abbreviation, acronym, countable, uncountable Acronym of defence investment plan, any of the periodic multiyear strategic plans for defence spending in the United Kingdom.defence investment plan It became clear that future defence investment plans would have to confront a riskier world.

proper noun the DIP

  1. abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Defence Investment Plan, any specific member of the series (for a particular multiyear period).Defence Investment Plan The Defence Investment Plan was released last month; it specifies £370 million towards an AI-assisted battlefield management system.

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