dip

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A lower section of a road or geological feature.

   “There is a dip in the road ahead.”

   “They were all doomed to be disappointed, however, for the errant engine decided at Stanley junction to spend the remainder of its crowded hour of freedom on the Aberdeen line, and finally came to rest, short of breath, in the dip between Ballathie and Cargill, near the bridge over the Tay.”

   “After a signal check at Darley Dale, on the third run, the Pacific mounted the long 1 in 100 at a steady 53-54 m.p.h. and attained a brief 60 m.p.h. in the short dip before Monsal Dale.”

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. (colloquial, countable, dated, 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.”

   “To steal a housewife's purse might mean that her children would have to go hungry; but what of that, if the flash young “dip” could gain admiration from his mates by boasting that he had “frisked a judy's cly and lifted a skinful of bunce”?”

   “Skeet is one of the modern young breed of dip, no longer interested in the pocket watches of the old and inattentive, finding more challenge in lifting a watch right off a wrist in broad daylight […].”

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”

19. (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.”

20. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of device-independent pixel.
21. (informal)A diplomat.
22. (informal, uncommon)A diaper; diap, dipe.
23. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Acronym of dual in-line package.
24. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Acronym of dependency inversion principle.

verb

1. (transitive)To lower into a liquid.

   “Dip your biscuit into your tea.”

   “He dipped the end of a towel in cold water and with it began to flick him on the face, his wife all the while holding her face between her hands and sobbing in a way that was heart breaking to hear.”

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.”

   “The engine's three headlights lit the way clearly, and when a train approached in the other direction, Driver Wegg dipped his lights; the other driver politely replying by doing the same.”

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.

   “He started dipping years ago.”

9. (transitive)To immerse for baptism.

   “new dipt Sectaries”

   “[…] during the reigns of King James and King Charles I, there were but very few children dipped in the font.”

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.”

    “Aura. Have you a clear title to the thing you would sell? That heart of your's, I warrant, has been mortgaged over and over. Mod. Humph! it has been a little dipped; but I have always honourably redeemed it, and was as free as air, till I beheld those eyes.”

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.”

    “The tunnel dips approximately 15 metres below Regents Canal and has a rising gradient at its northern end of 1-in-107.”

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.”

    “Twelve people worked on the project, but by the end, most of them had dipped on the real work.”

    “Remember on my first lick, got lost in a house / Had to dip, bro, quick, before the dogs came out”

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.”