dip
/dip/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A brief swim or immersion in water: A quick, often casual, swim or plunge into a body of water.
- A tasty mixture for coating food: A savory or sweet liquid or soft mixture into which pieces of food are briefly put before eating.
- A downward slope or hollow: A slight depression or downward incline in an otherwise level surface.
- A sudden, typically small, decrease: A brief decline or drop in an amount, level, or value.
- A gymnastic exercise: An exercise performed on parallel bars where the body is lowered by bending the arms and then raised again.
- A candle made by repeated immersion: A simple candle created by repeatedly dipping a wick into melted wax.
- The angle of magnetic inclination: (Physics) The angle a magnetic needle makes with the horizontal plane.
- (Slang) A pickpocket: A thief who steals from people's pockets or bags in public places.
Verb:
- To put something briefly into a liquid: To lower something into a liquid and quickly lift it out again, often to coat, wet, or clean it.
- To move downward: To go down or slope downwards; to appear to sink below a line, like the horizon.
- To lower and raise quickly: To move something down briefly and then back up.
- To take a small amount from a supply: To use a portion of something, especially money or savings.
- To immerse oneself briefly: To go into water for a short swim or plunge.
- To read or investigate superficially: To look into a book or subject briefly or casually.
- To dim vehicle headlights: To switch car headlights from the main (high) beam to the lower (dipped) beam.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- We went for a quick dip in the lake before lunch.
- The recipe calls for a cheese dip for the vegetables.
- Be careful driving; there's a sharp dip in the road ahead.
- The company reported a slight dip in quarterly profits.
Verb:
- Dip the paintbrush into the can.
- The road dips as it goes into the valley.
- The sun began to dip below the mountains.
- She had to dip into her emergency fund to pay for the repair.
Advanced Usage
"to dip a toe in": To try something new or unfamiliar in a very cautious, tentative way.
- He's dipping a toe in the water by taking one evening class before committing to the full course.
"to dip out" (informal, chiefly British): To leave or not participate, often suddenly.
- I'm feeling tired, so I think I'll dip out of the party early.
"to dip one's pen in gall": To write in a very bitter, spiteful, or malicious manner. (Idiomatic/Literary)
- The critic seemed to dip his pen in gall for that scathing review.
Variants and Related Words
- Dipped (adj): Lowered or submerged. Also, (archaic) referring to a type of candle.
- The artist used a dipped brush to create the effect.
- Dipper (n): 1. A ladle or cup for dipping. 2. A type of bird. 3. (The Dipper) A nickname for the Big Dipper constellation.
- Dipping (n/adj): The action or process of dipping. Also used as an adjective (e.g., a dipping sauce).
Synonyms
- Noun (for decrease): Drop, decline, fall, reduction.
- Noun (for slope): Hollow, depression, incline, declivity.
- Verb (to immerse): Dunk, plunge, immerse, submerge.
- Verb (to decline): Drop, fall, descend, sink.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Dip into:
- To use part of a supply, especially money.
- We had to dip into our savings for the vacation.
- To read or sample parts of a book or subject briefly.
- I like to dip into that poetry anthology now and then.
- To put one's hand into a container to take something out.
- She dipped into the jar and took a cookie.
Dip down: To descend or go down to a lower level.
- The temperature is expected to dip down tonight.
Related Idioms
Lucky dip (British English; "grab bag" in American English): A game or situation where you take something at random without knowing what it is.
- The children's party had a lucky dip full of small toys.
Skinny-dip: To swim naked.
- They decided to go for a midnight skinny-dip.
Dip one's lid/topper (Australian/NZ informal): To raise or touch one's hat as a greeting or sign of respect.
Noun
- a gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered and raised by bending and straightening the arms
- a brief swim in water
- a candle that is made by repeated dipping in a pool of wax or tallow
- a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity
- a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index
- there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery
- a dip in prices
- when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall
- a brief immersion
- tasty mixture or liquid into which bite-sized foods are dipped
- a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places
- (physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon
- a depression in an otherwise level surface
- there was a dip in the road
Verb
- scoop up by plunging one's hand or a ladle below the surface
- dip water out of a container
- plunge (one's hand or a receptacle) into a container
- He dipped into his pocket
- immerse in a disinfectant solution
- dip the sheep
- place (candle wicks) into hot, liquid wax
- dip into a liquid
- He dipped into the pool
- slope downwards
- Our property dips towards the river
- appear to move downward
- The sun dipped below the horizon
- The setting sun sank below the tree line
- lower briefly
- She dipped her knee
- switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
- take a small amount from
- I had to dip into my savings to buy him this present
- stain an object by immersing it in a liquid
- go down momentarily
- Prices dipped
- dip into a liquid while eating
- She dunked the piece of bread in the sauce
- immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
- dip the garment into the cleaning solution
- dip the brush into the paint