▪ I. dive, v.
(daɪv)
Forms: α. 1 d{uacu}fan, 2 duven; β. 1 d{yacu}fan, 2–3 duve(n (y), 3 diven, 3–6 (9 dial.) deve, deeve (6 deave), 4–6 dy(e)ve, 7–9 dieve, 6– dive. pa. tense α. 1 déaf, 2–3 deæf, 3 def, 9 N.Amer. and Eng. dial. dove; β. 1 d{yacu}fde, 3 defde, 7– div'd, 6– dived.
[OE. had two verbs: (1) the primary strong vb. d{uacu}fan, pa. tense déaf, pl. dufon, pa. pple. dofen, intr. to duck, dive, sink; (2) the derivative causal weak vb. d{yacu}fan, d{yacu}fde, ᵹed{yacu}fd to dip, submerge. Already in 12th c. these had begun to be confounded, the primary dūven (pa. tense deæf, dêf, pa. pple. doven) being used also trans., and the causal dȳven intrans., so that the two became synonyms, and before 1300 the strong vb. became obs., dȳven (s.w. düven, s.e. dēven, midl. and north dīven) remaining, chiefly in the intrans. sense of the OE. strong vb. Of the compound bedive, the pa. pple. bedoven came down to 16th c. in Sc. Only traces of this verb are found in the cognate langs.: ON. had d{yacu}fa to dip (also in same sense deyfa); MDu. had bedûven, pa. pple. bedoven, mod.Du. beduiven = OE. bed{uacu}fan. These belong to an OTeut. ablaut series deuƀ-, dauƀ-, duƀ-, secondary form of deup-, daup-, dup-, to dip, submerge:—pre-Teut. stems (weak-grade) dhup-, dhub-, respectively.
The s.e. deven gave the later deeve, deave, dieve; the modern dial. pa. tense dove is app. a new formation after drive, drove, or weave, wove.]
I. intr.
1. a. To descend or plunge into or under water or other liquid. (Usually, unless otherwise stated, to plunge head-foremost.)
| a 1000 Riddles lxxiii. 4 (Gr.) Ic..deaf under yðe. c 1220 Bestiary 539 Sone he [the whale] diueð dun to grunde, He drepeð hem alle wið-uten wunde. 1377 Langl. P.Pl. B. xii. 163 Þat one hath connynge..and can swymmen and dyuen. ? a 1400 Balade in Jyll of Breyntford, &c. (1871) 35 To dompe als deepe as man may dyeve þus holde I bett þan labour as a Reve. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 124/1 Dyvyn vnder þe weter, subnato. 1555 Eden Decades 95 They durste not aduenture to dyue to the bottome. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 102 Those birds that deeuing downe to the waters to ketch fish, drowne themselues. 1660 Boyle New. Exp. Phys. Mech. Digress. 375 Those that dive for Pearles in the West Indies. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 69 [The cormorant] from a vast height drops down to dive after its prey. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 71 These animals..close their nostrils when they dive by a kind of valve. 1855 Longfellow Hiawatha vii. 96 Straight into the river Kwasind Plunged as if he were an otter, Dove as if he were a beaver. 1857 Canad. Jrnl. Industry Sci. & Art II. Sept. 351 In England when a swimmer makes his first leap, head foremost, into the water he is said to dive, and is spoken of as having dived... Not so however, is it with the modern refinements of our Canadian English. In referring to such a feat here, it would be said, not that he dived, but that he dove. 1867 Hayes Open Polar Sea xxxvi, The whole herd..dove down with a tremendous splash. a 1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1949) v. 119 He dove in and saved her life. |
b. transf. To descend with similar motion into the earth, an abyss, etc.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 17 Ah flih sorhfule thing ut of min ehsihðe, ant def thider [into hell]. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 191, I come To answer thy best pleasure; be't..to diue into the fire. 1615 Chapman Odyss. x. 245, The reason, how the man-enlightning sunne Diues vnder earth. 1725 Pope Odyss. xxii. 104 The fierce soul to darkness dived and hell. 1882 N.Y. Herald 14 Mar. 4/5 Women dove headlong from the crosstrees into friendly and convenient nets. |
c. Of a submarine: to submerge.
| 1872 tr. Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues under Sea (1874) ii. iv. 168, I quite approved of the Nautilus entering it [sc. the gulf]. Its speed was lessened: sometimes it kept on the surface, sometimes it dived to avoid a vessel. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 575/2 An officer..dived with her [sc. a submarine] in water about 16 ft. deep. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VIII. 49/2 When a submarine is to dive beneath the surface, its buoyancy is reduced by allowing water to enter large tanks..inside the hull. |
d. Aviation. To descend or fall precipitously with increasing momentum.
| 1908 H. G. Wells War in the Air iv. §5 He could feel the airship diving down, down, down. 1914 Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 37, I switched on and off, and dived down through the opening to 1,000 feet. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 136 Dive, to descend so steeply as to produce a speed greater than the normal flying speed. 1959 Chamber's Encycl. I. 115/1 There also exists a diving altitude above which the jet comes into its own. |
Hence ˈdive-bomb v. trans., to attack with bombs at a low level after diving. Also transf. So dive-bomber (= G. sturzkampfflugzeug), a dive-bombing aircraft; dive-bombing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1935 Evening News 11 July 7/1 In dive-bombing, which is the most accurate form of aerial attack on surface targets yet devised, the aircraft is aimed bodily at the target in the course of an almost vertical dive, which is maintained for several thousands of feet. 1936 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XL. 720 Dive bombing is limited to low altitude and suffers from insufficient penetration, although the aiming is probably good. 1937 Flight 4 Nov. c/1 (caption) Great Lakes dive bombers of the U.S. Marine Corps. 1939 Times 29 Sept. 10/4 The North Sea Attack. Failure of German Dive-Bombers. 1940 Ibid. 8 July 3/4 The aircraft..delivered a dive-bombing attack. Ibid. 23 July 2/4 Patrolling off the South Coast, three Hurricane pilots spotted 16 Me. 110s flying line astern to dive-bomb a convoy. 1958 A. J. Toynbee East to West xxxi. 94 They [sc. hawks] ignored his impertinence and dive-bombed us thick and fast. 1971 P. C. Smith Stuka at War iv. 38 The dive-bombers blasted a coastal gun battery on the Isle of Wight. |
† 2. Of things: To sink deeply into water or the like; to penetrate into any body. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 6505 Þæt þet sweord in deæf. a 1225 Juliana 29 Euch dunt defde in hire leofliche lich. Ibid. 76 & wið þat ilke beide & def duuelinge dun to þer eorðe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 282 A bleddre ibollen ful of winde ne duueð nout into þeos deope wateres. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 111 The Spider..of the water. This laste is of such nimblenesse that running vpon the water neuer drowneth nor deaueth. 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 139 To diue like Buckets in concealed welles. 1607 ― Timon iv. i. 2 O thou Wall..diue in the earth, And fence not Athens. |
3. a. To penetrate with the hand into any recess; to plunge the hand into water, etc., or into a vessel, esp. for the purpose of taking something out. b. slang. To pick pockets.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Dive, to pick a Pocket. 1714 Gay Trivia ii. 89 She'll lead thee with delusive Smiles along, Dive in thy fob, and drop thee in the throng. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Old Bencher's I.T., He took snuff..diving for it under the mighty flaps of his old-fashioned waistcoat pocket. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 53, I at once dived into one of the boxes, and then spent half the night in examining some of its treasures. |
† c. spec. To plunge a fork into a large pot containing portions of meat, having paid for the privilege of taking whatever the fork brings up. Obs.
| 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xiii, Diving, practised by those who are..inclined to live frugally..Many creditable people..dive every day. |
4. fig. To enter deeply or plunge into (a matter); to penetrate.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 44 But Capys and oothers diuing more deepelye to bottom..Dyd wish thee woodden monster weare drowned. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iv. 25 He did seeme to diue into their hearts With humble and familiar courtesie. 1630 Prynne Anti-Armin. 10 Into the grounds and causes of which euery meane capacity may diue. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. iii. 136 The vain Attempts of Men to dive into..the Mysteries of God. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 23 The king..had been diving into the collection of the canons. |
5. To dart suddenly down or into some place or passage; to dart out of sight, disappear.
| 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. I. xiii. 102 Walking a few paces, [he] dived into a cellar, and disappeared in an instant. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. viii, Mr. Pecksniff..dived across the street. 1873 Burton Hist. Scot. VI. lxxi. 248 The Highlanders..had dived into their mountain recesses. 1891 N. Gould Double Event 27 He dived into the nearest restaurant. 1893 C. King Foes in Ambush 8 He..dove out of sight. 1893 Q. [Couch] Delectable Duchy 19 Where a straight pathway dived between hazel-bushes and appeared again twenty feet above. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 17/4 Forest Hill struck first when Mike Brown dove on a loose ball. |
II. trans. [In early use OE. d{yacu}fan; from 16th c. a new construction].
6. a. To dip, submerge, or plunge (a person or thing) in, or into a liquid, or the like. arch.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. [xii]. (1891) 436 He hine on ðam streame sencte and dyfde. a 1000 Riddles xxvii. 3 (Gr.) Mec feonda sum..dŷfde on wætre. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 43 Louerd ne þaue þu þat storm me duue. Ibid. Woreldes richeise wecheð orgel on mannes heorte, and deuð him on helle . alse storm doð þat ship in þe watere. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xii. §3 To diue an infant either thrice or but once in Baptisme. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. ii. (1628) 45 The Germans vsed to take their new-born children and to diue them in riuers. 1662 Sir W. Dugdale Hist. Imbanking & Draining (1772) 231 Thenceforth, neither flax or hemp should be dieved in the said sewers. 1854 S. Dobell Balder xxii. 84 Spout thee to heaven, and dive thee to the deep! |
b. To plunge (the hand or anything held) into. (A trans. variant of 3.)
| c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon i. 81 She turned her smocke ouer her lilly armes, And diued them into milke to run her cheese. 1878 T. P. Bigg-Wither Pioneer. Brazil I. 266 The Camaradas dive their own spoons into the bag and commence to eat from it all together. 1891 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 314 She had ‘dieved’ her kettle into the snow instead of filling it at the pump. 1893 Q. [Couch] Delectable Duchy 42 He dived a hand into his tail pocket. |
† c. transf. and fig. To plunge, cause to sink.
| 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. IV. Wks. (1711) 78 By largesses, banqueting, and other magnificence, diving himself in debt. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 55 The River dives it self under ground. 1771 Muse in Min. 14 Nurse of nature..Dive me in thy depths profound. |
7. To penetrate or traverse by diving; to dive into or through. Now rare.
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. v. 459 She..Turn'd to a cormorant, div'd, past sight, the main. c 1650 Denham Old Age 794 The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of flame. 1772 Poetry in Ann. Reg. 224 She fish'd the brook,—she div'd the main. 1813 T. Busby Lucretius i. 1015 To those who seldom dive the well of truth. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 42 He dives the hollow, climbs the steep. |
8. slang. To pick (pockets).
| 1621 B. Jonson Gipsies Metamorph. Wks. (Rtldg.) 619/2 Using your nimbles [fingers], In diving the pockets. |
▪ II. dive, n.
(daɪv)
[f. dive v.]
1. a. The act of diving; a darting plunge into or through water or the like. lit. and fig.
The Amateur Swimming Association distinguishes between a dive and a plunge. The latter is defined as a standing dive made head-first from a firm take-off, free from spring. The plunger does not add any further impetus, but allows himself to progress till all forward motion ceases, when he raises his face above water. A dive may be running, from a spring-board, and with propulsion added on reaching the water.
| 1700 T. Brown Amus. Ser. & Com. 126 A Pick-Pocket; who made a Dive into my Pocket. 1804 Miniature No. 19 ¶2 Upon taking too profound a dive into the Bathos, he was..unfortunately drowned. 1828 Boy's Own Bk., ‘Swimming’ 107 (The Dolphin) This is taking a dive from the surface of the water by turning heels upwards for that purpose, instead of leaping from a bank or elsewhere. 1875 Talmage Tea-Table iii, I first take a dive into the index, a second dive into the preface. 1893 Badminton Libr., Swimming 107 The usual high dive is a mere drop at a down-ward angle. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs II. 270 He [the hawk]..gave a sort of dive underneath him. |
b. Aviation. A precipitate descent. (Cf. nose-dive and dive v. 1 d).
| 1914 Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 13 When in the air, he bawls in your ear, ‘Now when you push your hand forward, you go down, see!’ (and he pushes your hand forward and you make a sudden dive). 1915 War Illustr. 27 Feb. 46/2 The excitement of the dive,..and the swift upward leap of the machine. 1936 Discovery Mar. 73/2 The pilot cannot pull the nose of his aeroplane up so quickly that he stalls it with the subsequent danger of a steep dive or spin. 1970 D. L. Brown Miles Aircraft since 1925 111 He opened the throttle wide and put the nose down into a steep dive. |
c. Of a submarine: submerging, submersion.
| 1915 W. E. Dommett Submarine Vessels iv. 42 When preparing for a dive, the..valves are tried. 1962 G. Weller All about Submarines (1963) iii. 36 On Hunley's first dive, the flames of her lantern flickered low after only a half-hour... On the next trip the submarine stayed down five times as long. |
2. transf. A sudden dart into a place or across a space, esp. so as to disappear.
| a 1897 Mod. He made a dive into the nearest shop. |
3. colloq. (orig. U.S.) An illegal drinking-den, or other disreputable place of resort, often situated in a cellar, basement, or other half-concealed place, into which frequenters may ‘dive’ without observation.
| 1871 N.Y. Herald 6 July 8/2 One of the gayly decorated dives where young ladies..dispense refreshments to thirsty souls. 1882 Society 11 Nov. 7/2 The proprietor of a New York ‘dive’. 1883 H. H. Kane in Harper's Mag. Nov. 945/1 Those who frequent the opium-smoking dives. 1885 Referee 10 May 3/3 A grand entrance takes the place of the tavern, which is relegated to down below, and is called a ‘dive’. 1886 E. W. Gilliam in N. Amer. Rev. July 33 There are 150 gambling dives, the approaches to which are so barricaded as to defy police detection. 1887 Boston Jrnl. 24 Apr. 2/4 Ordinary saloons and unlicensed dives did a rushing trade. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker viii, I visited Chinese and Mexican gambling-hells, German secret societies, sailors' boarding-houses, and ‘dives’ of every complexion of the disreputable and dangerous. 1897 Daily News 17 Apr. 3/1 From highway into byway they go; now up into tottering garret, then down into dim dive. 1910 Westm. Gaz. 25 Jan. 4/1 This dingy ‘dive’ can boast of many glorious memories. 1940 Auden Another Time 112, I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street. 1958 Spectator 4 July 8/3 The degenerate dives of Berlin. |
4. attrib. and Comb. dive brake (see quot. 1962); dive-keeper U.S., a person who keeps a ‘dive’ (sense 3).
| 1940 C. Gardner A.A.S.F. 238 The 87's, with their dive-brakes on, came down vertically to about 600 feet. 1954 Economist 11 Sept. (Suppl.) 3/1 The Hawker factories producing Hunters contain two or three hundred complete and half-complete machines waiting for their new dive brakes. 1962 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) v. 5 Dive brake, any device primarily used to increase the drag of an aircraft at will. |
| 1887 Chicago Tribune 4 May 3/1 Consternation has seized the divekeepers. 1910 S. E. White Rules of Game i. xvi, One of the saloon keepers at Twin Falls... This dive-keeper..had offered transportation. |
Add: [1.] d. In Boxing, Football, etc.: an intentional fall taken to deceive an opponent or official, esp. (in Boxing) a feigned knock-out. Freq. in phr. to take a dive. Also transf. and fig. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §701/10 Dive,..take a dive, take it, throw a fight, to allow an opponent to win by prearrangement. 1951 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Mar. 58/3 Admittedly the sport still will come up occasionally with its ‘dives’. (A dive is a phantom knockout in which a boxer ‘swoons’ or dives to the canvas under the impact of a light blow or, sometimes, no blow at all.) 1982 Chicago Sun-Times 21 June 5/1 ‘Freddy took a dive six times,’ Time quoted one investigator as saying of Furino's performance on the polygraph. |
▪ III. dive
variant of div.