See Also:

dip(2) (iou)



dip verb. Infl. -pp-. Pa. t. & pple dipped, dipt.
[Old English dyppan from Germanic base repr. also by DEEP adjective.]
I. verb trans.
Put or let down for a moment in or into (a liquid); immerse partially and briefly. OE.
H. Read He dipped his hand into the stream, right up to his sensitive wrist.
b. Immerse in a colouring solution, dye; imbue something with (a colour) by dipping. poet. M17.
Milton With..colours dipt in Heav'n.
c. Make (a candle) by repeatedly immersing a wick in hot tallow. E18.
d. Immerse (a sheep, horse, etc.) in a bath of vermin-killing liquid. E19.
Baptize by dipping or immersing. Now usu. contempt. OE.
Take (liquid, grain, etc.) out of a body of it by dipping with a scoop etc. (Foll. by up.) E17.
P. S. Buck This cauldron he filled partly full of water, dipping it with a half-gourd from an earthen jar.
b. Take (snuff) by dipping something into it and rubbing it on the gums. US. M19.
c. Pick the pocket of. slang. E20.
fig.
a. Implicate, involve, (in any affair). E17-L18.
Horace Walpole Having been deeply dipped in the iniquities of the South Sea.
b. Involve in debt; mortgage; pawn. colloq. M17.
Dryden Never dip thy Lands.
Suffuse with moisture. arch. M17.
Milton A cold shuddering dew Dips me all o'er.
Lower or let down for a moment, as if dipping in a liquid; spec. lower and then raise (a flag, an aircraft's wing in flight, etc.) in salute or (a sail) in tacking. L18.
b. Lower (headlight beams), lower beams of (headlights), to avoid dazzling oncoming motorists. E20.
II. verb intrans.
Plunge down a little into water or other liquid and quickly emerge. Foll. by in, into, under. LME.
W. C. Smith Slowly the muffled oars dip in the tide.
Sink or drop as if into water; extend downward a little way. LME.
E. Bowen Gulls dipped over the lawn in a series of white flashes. Tolkien The Sun dipped and vanished.
b. Fall a little in value or magnitude, esp. temporarily. M20.
Broadcast This week's figures..show..its audience share dipping to just under 41%.
Have a downward inclination, slope downwards. M17.
dipping-needle a magnetic needle mounted so as to be capable of moving in a vertical plane about its centre of gravity, and thus indicating by its dip the direction of the earth's magnetic field;
W. Scoresby In this hemisphere, the north end of the [magnetic] needle dips. E. Garrett You have no idea how the road dips.
Put one's hand, a ladle, etc., into water, a receptacle, etc., to take something out. (Foll. by into.) L17.
A. Higgins She had a shiny black reticule..into which she was continually dipping for cigarettes.
b. Pick pockets. slang. E19.
c. Dip snuff. US. M19.
d. Dip the headlights of a vehicle. E20.
Look cursorily into a subject, book, etc. L17.
J. Agate The only book of Proust's into which I have not dipped at one time or another.
Go deeply into a matter. M18.
= DAP verb 1. L18.
Phrases: dip into one's savings, dip into one's reserves, etc.: spend part of one's savings etc. dip one's toe in (the water), dip one's toes in (the water): see TOE noun. dip one's wick coarse slang (of a man) have sexual intercourse. dip out Austral. slang lose an opportunity or advantage, be unsuccessful.
dipping noun (a) the action of the verb; (b) a liquid into which things are dipped, esp. = DIP noun 8a(a): LME.