dive (dives plural & 3rd person present) (diving present participle) (dived past tense & past participle )
American English sometimes uses the form dove, pronounced doʊv, for the past tense.
1 verb If you diveinto some water, you jump in head-first with your arms held straight above your head.
He tried to escape by diving into a river... V into n
She was standing by a pool, about to dive in... V in
Joanne had just learnt to dive. V
Dive is also a noun., n-count
Pat had earlier made a dive of 80 feet from the Chasm Bridge.
2 verb If you dive, you go under the surface of the sea or a lake, using special breathing equipment.
Bezanik is diving to collect marine organisms. V
Dive is also a noun., n-count
This sighting occurred during my dive to a sunken wreck off Sardinia.
3 verb When birds and animals dive, they go quickly downwards, head-first, through the air or through water.
...a pelican which had just dived for a fish... V
4 verb If an aeroplane dives, it flies or drops down quickly and suddenly.
He was killed when his monoplane stalled and dived into the ground. V prep/adv, Also V
Dive is also a noun., n-count
Witnesses said the plane failed to pull out of a dive and smashed down in a field.
5 verb If you dive in a particular direction or into a particular place, you jump or move there quickly.
(=leap)
They dived into a taxi... V prep/adv
Dive is also a noun., n-count
He made a sudden dive for Uncle Jim's legs to try to trip him up.
6 verb If you diveinto a bag or container, you put your hands into it quickly in order to get something out.
She dived into her bag and brought out a folded piece of paper. V into n
7 verb If shares, profits, or figures dive, their value falls suddenly and by a large amount. (JOURNALISM)
If we cut interest rates, the pound would dive... V
Profits have dived from £7.7m to £7.1m... V from/to/by amount
The shares dived 22p to 338p. V amount
Dive is also a noun., n-count
Stock prices took a dive.
8 n-count If you describe a bar or club as a dive, you mean it is dirty and dark, and not very respectable. INFORMAL, disapproval
dive-bomb (dive-bombs 3rd person present) (dive-bombing present participle) (dive-bombed past tense & past participle )If a plane dive-bombs an area, it suddenly flies down low over it to drop bombs onto it. verb
The Russians had to dive-bomb the cities to regain control. V n, Also V
dive bomber (dive bombers plural ), dive-bomber You can refer to a plane that flies down low over a place in order to drop bombs on it as a dive bomber. n-count
The port had been attacked by German dive bombers for the past five days.
