GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Dive (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dived (?), colloq. Dove (), a relic of the AS. strong forms deáf, dofen; p. pr. & vb. n. Diving.] [OE. diven, duven, AS. dfan to sink, v. t., fr. dfan, v. i.; akin to Icel. dfa, G. taufen, E. dip, deep, and perh. to dove, n. Cf. Dip.]
   1. To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid.
   
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   It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. Whately.
   
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   ☞ The colloquial form dove is common in the United States as an imperfect tense form.
   
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   All [the walruses] dove down with a tremendous splash. Dr. Hayes.
   
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   When closely pressed it [the loon] dove . . . and left the young bird sitting in the water. J. Burroughs.
   
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   2. Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.  South.
   
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2.       
   Diving (?), a. That dives or is used or diving.
   
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   Diving beetle (Zool.), any beetle of the family Dytiscidæ, which habitually lives under water; -- called also water tiger. -- Diving bell, a hollow inverted vessel, sometimes bell-shaped, in which men may descend and work under water, respiration being sustained by the compressed air at the top, by fresh air pumped in through a tube from above. -- Diving dress. See Submarine armor, under Submarine. -- Diving stone, a kind of jasper.
   
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