dip
B1Common in everyday speech across all registers; some meanings (e.g., as a sauce or foolish person) are informal.
Definition
Meaning
A quick, brief downward movement into and out of a liquid or substance, or a slight decrease or downward slope.
The act of immersing something briefly; a downward movement, decrease, or decline; a creamy sauce for snacks; a hollow or depression in the land; a foolish or untrustworthy person (slang).
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Noun and verb forms are highly frequent. As a noun, polysemous between physical movement, food, geography, and informal character assessment. The verb can be transitive (dip the brush) or intransitive (prices dipped).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. 'Dip' as a sauce (like sour cream and chive dip) is common in both. The slang for a foolish person ('He's a bit of a dip.') is perhaps more established in US informal speech. The geographical term (a dip in the road) is universal.
Connotations
Identical core connotations. No significant regional variation in emotional or social connotation.
Frequency
Equal frequency for core meanings (verb of movement, noun for decrease). The food sense may be slightly more frequent in marketing contexts in the US.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
SBJ dip OBJ in/into STH (transitive)SBJ dip (intransitive)There is/was a dip in STHVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Dip your toe in the water”
- “Lucky dip”
- “Dip into your savings”
- “Take a dip”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Referring to a temporary decrease in performance, e.g., 'The company saw a dip in quarterly profits.'
Academic
Used in economics, geography, and sciences to describe declines or physical depressions, e.g., 'a dip in the graph', 'a glacial dip.'
Everyday
Very common for food, swimming, and minor changes, e.g., 'Could you pass the dip?', 'Let's go for a quick dip in the pool.', 'His confidence took a dip.'
Technical
In electronics, a 'dip switch'; in geology, the angle of a rock stratum; in agriculture, a liquid for treating animals ('sheep dip').
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- Dip the biscuit in your tea briefly.
- The road dips down into the valley.
- He had to dip into his reserves to pay the bill.
American English
- Dip the chip in the salsa.
- The stock market dipped after the news.
- She dipped her head to avoid the branch.
adverb
British English
- Not used as an adverb.
American English
- Not used as an adverb.
adjective
British English
- Not commonly used as a pure adjective. Participial 'dipped' exists (e.g., chocolate-dipped strawberries).
American English
- Same as British. 'Dip' as an adjective is rare outside compounds like 'dip switch'.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I like to dip my bread in the soup.
- There is a small dip in the road here.
- Sales usually dip slightly during the summer months.
- They served a delicious garlic dip with the crisps.
- The aircraft dipped its wings as a signal before landing.
- Investors are concerned about the sudden dip in commodity prices.
- The journalist merely dipped into the complexities of the diplomatic crisis.
- Geological surveys revealed a pronounced dip in the underlying strata.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a chip taking a quick swim in a bowl of sauce (dip) before going into your mouth. The chip goes DOWN into the sauce, just like prices or land can go DOWN in a dip.
Conceptual Metaphor
DOWN IS LESS/BAD/INTO LIQUID (e.g., dip in morale, dip into a topic, dip in the ocean).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid confusing with 'deep' (глубокий).
- The noun 'dip' (соус) is not the same as 'sauce' for main dishes; it's specifically for snacks.
- The verb 'to dip' implies brief immersion, not prolonged soaking (which would be 'soak' or 'steep').
Common Mistakes
- Using 'dip' for a deep, permanent submersion (use 'sink' or 'submerge').
- Confusing 'dip' (n.) with 'deep' (adj.).
- Incorrect preposition: 'dip *on* the sauce' instead of 'dip *in/into* the sauce'.
Practice
Quiz
In which sentence is 'dip' used as a noun referring to food?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
'Dip' is brief and shallow. 'Dive' implies a head-first, purposeful, and often deeper entry. 'Plunge' suggests a forceful, sudden, and complete immersion or drop.
No, 'dip' inherently describes a downward movement or decrease. For an increase, use 'rise', 'increase', or 'peak'.
Yes, it's a common informal idiom meaning to swim naked.
It is usually countable (a dip, two dips). When referring to sauce as a substance, it can be uncountable ('Add more dip').