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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dive \Dive\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Dived}, colloq. {Dove}, a relic of the AS. strong forms de['a]f, dofen; p. pr. & vb. n. {Diving}.] [OE. diven, duven, AS. d?fan to sink, verb (used with an object), fr. d?fan, verb (used without an object); akin to Icel. d?fa, G. taufen, E. dip, deep, and perh. to dove, noun Cf. {Dip}.]
1. To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid.
It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. --Whately.
Note: The colloquial form dove is common in the United States as an imperfect tense form.
All [the walruses] dove down with a tremendous splash. --Dr. Hayes.
When closely pressed it [the loon] dove . . . and left the young bird sitting in the water. --J. Burroughs.
2. Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore. --South.
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |