dive

DYV/daɪv/

Noun pluraldives

21 meanings of dive

1
verbintransitive
To plunge into water head-first.
Competitive swimmers dive into the pool the instant the starting buzzer sounds.
He dove from the rocks into the clear lagoon below.
Similarplunge, leap, jump
2
nouncountable
A jump or plunge into a body of water.
Her final dive earned top marks from the judges.
He executed a graceful dive off the cliff into the sea.
Similarplunge, jump, leap
3
verbintransitive
To swim below the surface of the water.
Marine biologists dive to study life on the reef.
The pearl hunters dove deep without any tanks.
Similarsubmerge
Oppositesurface
Note
The past tense of the verb splits by region across all its senses. Dived is the general form. Canada and the US also use dove, for both the past and the past participle: he dove in to save her, she had dove before. Writers addressing a British or international audience are safest with dived, while North American readers accept either form.
4
verbintransitive
To drop or descend sharply and steeply.
Temperatures dive after sunset in the desert.
The mountain road dives toward the valley floor.
Similarplunge, plummet, drop, fall, tumble
Oppositesoar, climb, rise
Note
Routes dive too, not only bodies. A road plunges toward a valley, and Andrew Martin's Underground Overground (2012) has the Hammersmith & City line diving underground at Paddington. Nothing jumps or falls in this use. The word marks an abrupt change of level, and it pairs naturally with underground, beneath and below.
5
nounslangcountable
A run-down, disreputable bar, nightclub, or similar place.
Like the bar version of a greasy-spoon diner: cheap, shabby, and a little proud of it.
The band got its start playing dives across the country.
He prefers a cheap dive to a fancy cocktail lounge.
Similarjoint, dump, hole
Note
The word is slang, and it often carries as much affection as scorn: a cheap dive can be someone's favorite haunt, and a band can wear its years of playing dives as a badge. It is the same word as the swimmer's verb, from Old English roots meaning to dip and to duck. It is not the Italian dive that serves as the plural of diva. In formal writing, prefer a run-down bar.
6
verbintransitive
To throw oneself into a task or activity with great enthusiasm.
Volunteers dive into relief work the moment they arrive.
He dove into his studies as soon as the term began.
Similarplunge, launch, jump
Note
Most often the verb travels with in: dive in, or dive right in for emphasis. Used alone, dive in needs no object (she dove right in), while dive into names the task. The tone is eager rather than careful. For going thoroughly into a subject, see the "explore deeply" meaning.
7
verbintransitive
To lose altitude rapidly by angling downward, as a bird or aircraft does.
Falcons dive at astonishing speeds when hunting.
The plane dove sharply to avoid the storm.
Similarswoop, plunge, descend, nosedive, plummet
Oppositeclimb, soar, ascend
8
nouncountable
A sharp downward decline, as in value, level, or condition.
The stock market's dive wiped out months of gains.
Sales took a steep dive over the winter months.
Similarplunge, drop, fall, slump, nosedive
Oppositerise, surge, climb, rally
9
verbfigurativelyintransitive
To go deeply into a subject, question, or activity in order to explore it thoroughly.
Researchers dive into decades of records to trace the pattern.
She dove into the company's finances looking for fraud.
Similardelve, dig, plunge, probe
Note
The figurative plunge into a subject goes back to the pulpit: Robert South's sermons speak of those who "dive into the Concerns of all about them." It still thrives, and dives deeper is a stock phrase for thorough analysis, as in Thomas Germain's 2025 BBC article on Google. Unlike the enthusiastic sense, this one is about depth, not eagerness.
10
verbintransitive
To leap headfirst toward the ground or into some other substance.
Defenders dive to intercept the ball before it reaches the net.
She dove headfirst into the snowbank for the photo.
Similarleap, lunge, plunge, jump

11
nouncountable
A swift, downward swooping movement through the air.
The hawk's dive was almost too fast to follow.
With a sudden dive, the seabird snatched its prey from the waves.
Similarswoop, plunge, descent
Oppositeclimb, ascent
12
nouncountable
An instance of swimming beneath the surface of water.
The instructor led us on a dive beneath the harbor wall.
Their morning dive took them past a school of bright fish.
13
nouncountable
A headfirst jump aimed at the ground or into another substance such as water.
His reckless dive into the haystack left him covered in straw.
A badly judged dive onto the hard sand left him bruised.
Similarleap, plunge, lunge, jump
14
verbtransitive
To cause something to descend, or to plunge it into water.
Dive the net into the pond to bring up the fish.
He dived the wooden pole into the murky water.
Similarplunge, dip, sink, lower, submerge
Note
The transitive use preserves one of the verb's two Old English ancestors. Dȳfan was a weak verb meaning "to dip, immerse," and it merged with intransitive dūfan, "to duck, sink." Richard Hooker uses the transitive sense of baptism in Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, writing of whether to dive an infant thrice or once. Dunk and plunge are its nearest equivalents.
15
verbtransitive
To explore a place by diving into it, or to plunge into something.
Each year they dive the reefs along the coast.
Explorers have dived dozens of caves in the region.
Similarexplore
Note
Here the place takes no preposition: divers dive a reef or a cave. In Emerson's May-Day (1867), the schoolboy "dives the hollow," and John Denham writes in 1668 that the Curtii "dived the gulf of flame." Use the bare object when the point is exploring a site, and dive into when the stress falls on entering it.
16
nouncountable
A steep aerial descent in which the nose points downward.
The fighter entered a steep dive to evade the missile.
Engineers studied how the wings behaved during a high-speed dive.
Similarnosedive, plunge, descent
Oppositeclimb, ascent
Note
In aviation, a dive trades altitude for airspeed. With the nose pointed down, the aircraft gathers speed quickly, and the pilot must manage that buildup to stay within structural limits. The noun names the maneuver itself, as in entered a steep dive. Performing it is the aircraft verb.
17
verbintransitive
To fall down deliberately after a challenge, imitating a foul in the hope of getting an opponent penalized.
He tried to dive after a light brush from the defender.
The forward dived theatrically, hoping to win a penalty.
Note
Football's accusation: to say a player dived is to say the fall was staged to fool the referee into awarding a free kick or penalty. It is a charge rather than a neutral description, and theatrically is its natural companion. The noun works the same way: a dive is a fall judged to be fake rather than a real foul.
18
nouncountable
A deliberate fall after a challenge from an opponent.
The official awarded a yellow card for the striker's dive.
Commentators called it a blatant dive rather than a real foul.
Similarsimulation
19
verbintransitive
To leap while fielding in order to take a spectacular catch, one that usually brings a wicket and applause.
The fielder had to dive to his right to pluck the ball one-handed.
He dived at full stretch and clung on to dismiss the opener.
Similarleap, lunge
Note
In cricket the same leap earns applause instead of suspicion. A fielder dives to one side or at full stretch to reach a catch that would otherwise escape, and the word usually marks a dismissal worth celebrating. That is a sharp contrast with the football sense, where diving is a charge of cheating.
20
SayDEE-vayUS/ˈdiveɪ/UK/ˈdiːveɪ/
noun
Plural of diva. A rare Italian plural; English normally uses divas.
Note
A separate word that happens to share the spelling. It comes from Italian dive, the plural of diva, and follows the Italian pattern in which feminine nouns ending in -a take -e in the plural. English more commonly uses the regular plural divas. When dive does appear in this sense, only context tells you it means singers rather than plunges.
21
nounobsolete
Obsolete form of daeva.
Note
An obsolete spelling from English renderings of Zoroastrian and Persian mythology, where it named a malevolent spirit or demon before daeva became the standard form. It is unrelated to the other words spelled dive. A reader who meets it in an old text on Persian lore should read it as daeva.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–19

From Middle English diven, duven, formed from the merger of two Old English verbs: dȳfan ('to dip, immerse') and dūfan ('to duck, dive, sink, penetrate'). Both go back to Proto-Germanic, and the word is related to Icelandic dýfa ('to dip, dive') as well as to English deep and dip.

Meaning 20

From Italian dive; compare diva.