Meaning of dive In English

• 0 to jump into water, especially with your head and arms going in first, or to move down under the water:

  • Look at those children diving for oysters over there!

  • They ran to the pool, dived in, and swam to the other side.

  • Mark dove off the bridge into the river.

  • The submarine dived just in time to avoid the enemy attack.

• 1 to fall in value suddenly and by a large amount:

  • The company's shares dived by 90p to 65p on the stock market yesterday.

• 2 to go down very quickly:

  • The plane dived towards the ground and exploded in a ball of flame.

  • The goalkeeper dived for the ball (= tried to catch the ball by jumping towards it and falling on the ground).

  • They dived for cover when they heard the shooting start.

  • Referees should be booking players when they dive.

• 3 a jump into water with your head going in first:

  • the best dive of the competition

• 4 a sudden loss in value:

  • The company's profits took a dive last month.

• 5 a movement down onto the ground:

  • The goalkeeper made a valiant dive for the ball, but he couldn't quite get his hands on it.

  • The plane went into a dive.

  • He made a dive for the door.

• 6 a restaurant, hotel, bar, or place for entertainment or social activities that is unpleasant because of the condition of the building or the type of people that go there:

  • The place is a real dive, but the drinks are cheap and the food's great.

• 7 to jump head first into water, esp. with your arms held straight above your head, or to move down quickly through water or the air:

  • Mark dove off the cliff into the ocean.

  • Dolphins can dive to great depths.

  • [ + to infinitive ] The plane dived to avoid enemy aircraft fire.

• 8 to jump or move quickly into or at something:

  • When the football came loose, he dove at the ball and grabbed it.

  • They dived for cover when it suddenly began to rain.

• 9 a cheap, unattractive bar or place for entertainment

• 10 a sudden, large fall in amount or value:

  • The firm’s profits took a dive last quarter.

• 11 a quick move or jump into or at something:

  • White’s 1-yard dive with seconds left won the football game.

• 12 to suddenly become less valuable:

  • Shares prices dived 3.5% today to a three-month closing low.

  • Pre-tax profits dove almost 60% to $105m against $245m in the same period last year.

• 13 a sudden loss of value or success:

  • The bond market traded nervously as many shares on Wall Street took a dive and oil prices soared.