A Dive Is a Plunge and a Shabby Bar
To dive is to plunge headfirst. American slang uses the noun for a rundown drinking place.
To dive is to plunge headfirst into water, or to descend steeply. The American slang sense of a shabby bar is literal in origin: such places were often in cellars, so a customer dived down into them from street level. *Dive bar* is now used with a certain affection. In football, to *dive* is to fall deliberately to win a foul, and a *dive* in boxing is a fight deliberately lost — both senses of falling on purpose.
- To plunge headfirst. *Dive into the pool.*
- A steep descent. *The plane dived.*
- A shabby bar. *A dive bar.*
- To fall deliberately. *He dived in the box.*
- Old English — *dyfan*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | dive | Diving. |
| Noun | dive | A dive. |
| Past | dived | Dived. |
| American past | dove | Dove. |
| Agent | diver | A diver. |
- She dived from the high board.Swimming.
- They met in a dive bar.Slang.
- The referee booked him for diving.Football.
Dived or dove
- Dived is the older and standard British form
- Dove arose in American English by analogy with drive and drove
- Both are accepted in American use
- British English keeps dived almost exclusively
- The same analogy gave some speakers *snuck* for sneaked
Old English *dyfan*, to dip, and *dufan*, to sink, of Germanic origin.
Why is a shabby bar called a dive?
Because such places were often in cellars, so customers descended into them from the street.
Is it dived or dove?
Dived is standard everywhere. Dove is common in American English, formed by analogy with drive and drove.