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dive

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To jump into water head-first.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dyv
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdaɪv

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To jump into water head-first.

  2. intransitive

    To jump headfirst toward the ground or into another substance.

  3. intransitive

    To swim under water.

  4. transitive

    To cause to descend, dunk; to plunge something into water.

    “I was afraid to dive from the board into the pool.”

  5. intransitive

    To descend sharply or steeply.

  6. Drop steeply

noun

  1. A headlong plunge into water

  2. A jump or plunge into water.

  3. A headfirst jump toward the ground or into another substance.

  4. A downward swooping motion.

  5. A swim under water.

  6. A decline.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To jump into water head-first.

Used this way, dive is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use dive

  • “I was afraid to dive from the board into the pool.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

dive bombernose divescuba divedive shop

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • divernounInflected form

    Someone who works underwater.

  • divestverbInflected form

    Take away possessions from someone.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • dive-bombingnounCompound term

    A bombing run in which the bomber releases the bomb while flying straight toward the target.

  • dive bombernounCompound term

    A bomber that releases its bombs during a steep dive toward the target.

  • dive-bombverbCompound term

    Bomb from a diving airplane.

  • dive brakenounCompound term

    A small parachute or articulated flap to reduce the speed of an aircraft.

  • deep-sea divernounCompound term

    A diver in the deeper parts of the sea.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.