diving
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dive 1
(dīv)v. dived or dove (dōv), dived, div·ing, dives
v.intr.
1.
a. To plunge, especially headfirst, into water.
b. To execute a dive in athletic competition.
c. To participate in the sport of competitive diving.
2.
a. To go toward the bottom of a body of water: We dove down to check the anchor.
b. To engage in the sport of scuba diving.
c. To submerge under power. Used of a submarine.
3.
a. To fall head down through the air.
b. To descend nose down at an acceleration usually exceeding that of free fall. Used of an airplane.
c. To engage in the sport of skydiving.
4. To drop sharply and rapidly; plummet: Stock prices dove 100 points in a single day of trading.
5.
a. To rush headlong and vanish into something: The fugitive dove into the crowd and escaped.
b. To plunge one's hand into something: dove into the cookie jar.
6. To lunge or leap headfirst: dove for the loose ball.
7. To plunge into an activity or enterprise with vigor and gusto.
8. Sports To exaggerate a fall in an attempt to induce a referee to call a penalty on an opponent.
v.tr.
1. To cause (an aircraft, for example) to dive.
2. To go scuba-diving to or along: We dove that reef last week.
n.
1.
a. A plunge into water, especially done headfirst and in a way established for athletic competition.
b. The act or an instance of going under water, as of a submarine or a skin diver.
c. A nearly vertical descent at an accelerated speed through the air.
2. A rapid or abrupt decrease: Stock prices took a dive.
3.
a. Slang A disreputable or run-down bar or nightclub.
b. A run-down residence.
4. Sports
a. A knockout feigned by a prizefighter: The challenger took a dive.
b. An exaggerated fall, especially by a hockey player, intended to draw a penalty against an opponent.
5.
a. A lunge or a headlong jump: made a dive to catch the falling teacup.
b. Football An offensive play in which the carrier of the ball plunges into the opposing line in order to gain short yardage.
[Middle English diven, from Old English dȳfan, to dip, and from dūfan, to sink; see dheub- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Either dove or dived is acceptable as the past tense of dive. In our 2008 survey 92 percent of the Usage Panel accepted dove and 72 percent accepted dived in the sentence. Keeping their New Year's Day tradition, the L Street Brownies dove/dived into Dorchester Bay this morning. This may seem odd considering that dived is actually the older form. In fact, the emergence of dove runs against the general tendency of change in English verb forms. Old English had two classes of verbs: strong verbs, whose past tense was indicated by a change in their vowel (a process that survives in such present-day English verbs as drive/drove and fling/flung); and weak verbs, whose past was formed with a suffix related to -ed in Modern English (as in present-day English live/lived and move/moved). Dive comes from one of these weak verbs. Since the Old English period, many verbs have changed from the strong pattern to the weak one; for example, the past tense of step, formerly stop, became stepped. Over the years, in fact, the weak pattern has become so prevalent that we use the term regular to refer to verbs that form their past tense by suffixation of -ed. However, there have occasionally been changes in the other direction: the past tense of wear, now wore, was once werede, and that of spit, now spat, was once spitede. The development of dove is an additional example of the small group of verbs that have swum against the historical tide.
di·ve 2
(dē′vā)n.
A plural of diva.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
diving
(ˈdaɪvɪŋ)n
(Swimming, Water Sports & Surfing) the sport or activity of diving into water or spending time under water
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Noun | 1. | ![]() swim meet, swimming meet - a swimming competition between two or more teams match - a formal contest in which two or more persons or teams compete |
2. | diving - a headlong plunge into water swim, swimming - the act of swimming; "it was the swimming they enjoyed most": "they took a short swim in the pool" belly flop, belly flopper, belly whop, belly whopper - a dive in which the abdomen bears the main force of impact with the water cliff diving - diving into the water from a steep overhanging cliff flip - a dive in which the diver somersaults before entering the water full gainer, gainer - a dive in which the diver throws the feet forward to complete a full backward somersault and enters the water feet first and facing away from the diving board half gainer - a dive in which the diver throws the feet forward and up to complete a half backward somersault and enters the water facing the diving board jackknife - a dive in which the diver bends to touch the ankles before straightening out swallow dive, swan dive - a dive in which the diver arches the back with arms outstretched before entering the water |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
TranslationsSelect a language:
Spanish / Español
diving
[ˈdaɪvɪŋ]A. N (professional) → submarinismo m, buceo m; (sporting) → salto m de trampolín, clavado m (CAm, Mex); (from side of pool) → salto m, zambullida f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
diving
→ salto de trampolín , submarinismoMultilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
diving
n (sport) buceoEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.