TOP

Definition of dip verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

dip

verb
 
/dɪp/
 
/dɪp/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they dip
 
/dɪp/
 
/dɪp/
he / she / it dips
 
/dɪps/
 
/dɪps/
past simple dipped
 
/dɪpt/
 
/dɪpt/
past participle dipped
 
/dɪpt/
 
/dɪpt/
-ing form dipping
 
/ˈdɪpɪŋ/
 
/ˈdɪpɪŋ/
Idioms Phrasal Verbs
jump to other results
  1. [transitive] to put something quickly into a liquid and take it out again
    • dip something (into something) He dipped the brush into the paint.
    • dip something (in) Dip your hand in to see how hot the water is.
    • The fruit had been dipped in chocolate.
    Extra Examples
    • He dipped his finger in the water
    • Quickly dip the tomatoes in boiling water.
    • She dipped the brush lightly in the varnish.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • lightly
    • quickly
    preposition
    • in
    • into
    See full entry
  2. [intransitive, transitive] to go downwards or to a lower level; to make something do this synonym fall
    • (+ adv./prep.) The sun dipped below the horizon.
    • Sales for this quarter have dipped from 38.7 million to 33 million.
    • The road dipped suddenly as we approached the town.
    • dip something (+ adv./prep.) The plane dipped its wings.
    see also double-dip
    Extra Examples
    • He dipped his head as he went through the doorway.
    • His head dipped towards her.
    • Support dipped sharply to 51 per cent.
    • The road dipped steeply down into the town.
    • The sun was slowly dipping out of sight.
    • hills which dip gently to the east
    • when unemployment dips below a certain point
    Topics Moneyc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • slightly
    • sharply
    preposition
    • below
    See full entry
  3. [transitive] dip something (British English) if you dip your headlights when driving a car at night, you make the light from them point down so that other drivers do not have the light in their eyesTopics Transport by car or lorryc2
  4. [transitive] dip something when farmers dip animals, especially sheep, they put them in a bath of a liquid containing chemicals in order to kill insects, etc.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • lightly
    • quickly
    preposition
    • in
    • into
    See full entry
  5. Word OriginOld English dyppan, of Germanic origin; related to deep.
Idioms
dip into your pocket
  1. (informal) to spend some of your own money on something
    • She was forced to dip into her own pocket to pay for the repairs.
dip a toe in/into something | dip a toe in/into the water
  1. (informal) to start doing something very carefully to see if it will be successful or not
    • We decided to dip a toe in the computer games market.
    Topics Successc2
See dip in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
misty
adjective
 
 
From the Topic
Weather
C1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day