Basic+ Word of the Day: dive

dive (verb, noun) past tense: dove, dived

scuba diving

Dive means ‘to come into the water, usually headfirst.’

• Michael dives into the water and swims the length of the pool.

Dive also means ‘to descend through the air.’

• The eagle dove to the ground and grabbed the rat.
• The paratrooper dives through the air and opens her parachute.

A dive is an act of diving.

• Eva's dive from the high board was perfectly executed.
• The treasure hunters went on a dive.

Don't confuse it with

diva: a distinguished female singer. Example: “The diva sang the aria.”

Related words

diver: someone who dives. Example: “The scuba diver swam near a coral reef.”

Did you know?

Dive has another colloquial meaning. Did you ever go into a bar or a club and feel uncomfortable? Maybe it’s not very clean or the people in the bar look a bit disreputable. We would call a bar like that a dive.

In pop culture

Sing along with Nirvana in their song “Dive.”

There are other meanings of dive.