See Also:

dip(1) (iou)



dip noun. L16.
[from the verb.]
An act of dipping; spec. (colloq.) a bathe in the sea etc. L16.
J. Grant A half-hour's 'dip' into some circulating-library book. Tennyson Ev'n to the last dip of the vanishing sail She watch'd it. R. Brautigan She caught twenty fish with one dip. H. Carpenter They take an early morning dip in an icy stream.
b. A minor fall in value or magnitude. L19.
Daily Telegraph A 122 million dip in profits from Imperial Chemical Industries.
A downward slope of a surface; esp. in Mining & Geology, the angle made by a stratum etc. with the horizontal. L17.
b. Mining. In full dip-head. A passage driven downwards, esp. in the direction of dip. L19.
The angle made with the horizontal at any point by the earth's magnetic field. E18.
a. = DEEP noun 8. M18-M19.
b. Depth or amount of submergence, e.g. of a vessel. L18.
Astronomy & Surveying. The apparent depression of the horizon due to the observer's elevation and the curvature of the earth. L18.
A hollow to which the surrounding high ground dips. L18.
S. Hill You can't see our farmhouse, it lies in the dip beyond the beeches there.
In full dip candle. A candle made by repeatedly dipping a wick into tallow. E19.
a. A substance into which food may be dipped before eating, esp. (a) fat and juice left after the cooking of meat; (b) a savoury sauce. E19.
M. Bradbury A bowl of tomatoes and a cheese dip, into which they started popping the tomatoes.
b. A boiled dumpling. Usu. in pl. Austral. slang. M19.
A quantity of liquid taken up by dipping. M19.
S. Warren His pen..with a fresh dip of ink in it.
Crude turpentine. M19.
A pickpocket. slang. M19.
Prosody. An unstressed element in a line of alliterative verse. L19.
A liquid into which something is dipped for treatment, esp. one for killing vermin on sheep, horses, etc.; a vat or tank for this purpose. L19.
sheep-dip etc.
A receptacle from which a hidden prize may be obtained by dipping. E20.
lucky dip: see LUCKY adjective.
Comb. (partly from the verb stem): dip candle: see sense 7 above; dip-head: see sense 2b above; dip circle a graduated vertical circle with a dipping-needle; dip-dye verb trans. immerse (a yarn or fabric) in a special solution in order to colour it; dip needle = dipping-needle s.v. DIP verb 9; dip-net noun & verb (a) noun a small fishing net with a long handle; (b) verb trans. catch using a dip-net; dip pen: that has to be dipped in ink; dip slope a usu. gentle slope of the land that approximately follows that of the underlying strata; dipstick (a) a rod for dipping into liquid, esp. oil in a motor vehicle, to find its depth; (b) coarse slang the penis; (c) slang a stupid or contemptible person; dip-switch: for dipping headlights.