dive

Etymology 1

From Middle English diven, duven, from the merger of Old English dȳfan (“to dip, immerse”, transitive weak verb) (from Proto-Germanic *dūbijaną) and dūfan (“to duck, dive, sink, penetrate”, intransitive strong verb) (past participle ġedofen). Cognate with Icelandic dýfa (“to dip, dive”), Low German bedaven (“covered, covered with water”). See also deep, dip.

verb

1. (intransitive) To swim under water.
2. (intransitive) To jump into water head-first.
   It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. 1826, Richard Whately, Elements of Logic
3. (intransitive) To jump headfirst toward the ground or into another substance.
   to dive into home plate
4. (intransitive) To descend sharply or steeply.
   [the Hammersmith & City at Paddington]: There it dived underground, eventually enabling its train services to run over, and be entangled with, the easterly extensions of the Metropolitan and the District. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, page 49
5. (intransitive) To lose altitude quickly by pointing downwards, as with a bird or aircraft.
6. (intransitive, especially with in) To undertake with enthusiasm.
   She dove right in and started making improvements.
7. (sports) To deliberately fall down after a challenge, imitating being fouled, in the hope of getting one's opponent penalised.
8. (transitive) To cause to descend, dunk; to plunge something into water.
9. (transitive) To explore by diving; to plunge into.
   The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of flame. 1668, John Denham, The Progress of Learning
10. (intransitive, figurative) To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.

noun

1. A jump or plunge into water.
   the dive of a hawk after prey
2. A headfirst jump toward the ground or into another substance.
   The 24-year-old Brazilian hurdler Joao Vitor de Oliveira progressed to the Rio competition’s semi-finals by executing a Superman-style dive headfirst over the finishing line – beating South Africa’s Antonio Alkana by one hundredth of a second. Aug 16 2016, Kate Samuelson, “Here Are Other Athletes Who Famously Won with a Dive”, in Time
3. A downward swooping motion.
4. A swim under water.
5. A decline.
6. (slang) A seedy bar, nightclub, etc.
7. (aviation) Aerial descent with the nose pointed down.
8. (sports) A deliberate fall after a challenge.

Etymology 2

From Italian dive; see diva.

noun

1. plural of diva

Etymology 3

noun

1. Obsolete form of daeva.