dictionary definitions for "diving"


From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  diving
      n 1: an athletic competition that involves diving into water
           [syn: diving, diving event]
      2: a headlong plunge into water [syn: dive, diving]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dive \Dive\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dived, colloq. Dove, a
     relic of the AS. strong forms de['a]f, dofen; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Diving.] [OE. diven, duven, AS. d?fan to sink, v. t., fr.
     d?fan, v. i.; akin to Icel. d?fa, G. taufen, E. dip, deep,
     and perh. to dove, n. Cf. Dip.]
     1. To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body
        under, or deeply into, water or other fluid.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men
              have dived for them.                  --Whately.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The colloquial form dove is common in the United States
           as an imperfect tense form.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 All [the walruses] dove down with a tremendous
                 splash.                            --Dr. Hayes.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 When closely pressed it [the loon] dove . . . and
                 left the young bird sitting in the water. --J.
                                                    Burroughs.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject,
        question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.
        --South.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diving \Div"ing\, a.
     That dives or is used or diving.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Diving beetle (Zool.), any beetle of the family
        {Dytiscid[ae]}, which habitually lives under water; --
        called also water tiger.
  
     Diving bell, a hollow inverted vessel, sometimes
        bell-shaped, in which men may descend and work under
        water, respiration being sustained by the compressed air
        at the top, by fresh air pumped in through a tube from
        above.
  
     Diving dress. See Submarine armor, under Submarine.
  
     Diving stone, a kind of jasper.
        [1913 Webster]


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