dip vs flipper

dip

noun
  • A dip stick. 

  • A diplomat. 

  • A swim, usually a short swim to refresh. 

  • A lower section of a road or geological feature. 

  • The moist form of snuff tobacco. 

  • A move in many different styles of partner dances, often performed at the end of a dance, in which the follower leans far to the side and is supported by the leader. 

  • The viscid exudation that is dipped out from incisions in the trees. Virgin dip is the runnings of the first year, yellow dip the runnings of subsequent years. 

  • A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole. 

  • Fried bread. 

  • A foolish person. 

  • A gymnastic or bodybuilding exercise on parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms. 

  • A tank or trough where cattle or sheep are immersed in chemicals to kill parasites. 

  • Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch. 

  • The angle from horizontal of a planar geologic surface, such as a fault line. 

  • A sauce for dipping. 

  • The act of missing out on seeing a sought after bird. 

  • The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid. 

  • A financial asset in decline, seen as an investment opportunity. 

verb
  • To incline downward from the plane of the horizon. 

  • To perform a dip dance move (often phrased with the leader as the subject noun and the follower as the subject noun being dipped) 

  • To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; often with out. 

  • To immerse oneself; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink. 

  • To treat cattle or sheep by immersion in chemical solution. 

  • To lower (a flag), particularly a national ensign, to a partially hoisted position in order to render or to return a salute. While lowered, the flag is said to be “at the dip.” A flag being carried on a staff may be dipped by leaning it forward at an approximate angle of 45 degrees. 

  • To perform the action of plunging a dipper, ladle. etc. into a liquid or soft substance and removing a part. 

  • To lower into a liquid. 

  • To miss out on seeing a sought after bird. 

  • To immerse for baptism. 

  • To use a dip stick to check oil level in an engine. 

  • To perform (a bow or curtsey) by inclining the body. 

  • To engage as a pledge; to mortgage. 

  • To lower the body by bending the knees while keeping the body in an upright position, as in movement to the rhythm of music. 

  • To leave. 

  • To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten. 

  • To consume snuff by placing a pinch behind the lip or under the tongue so that the active chemical constituents of the snuff may be absorbed into the system for their narcotic effect. 

  • To lower a light's beam. 

  • To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair. 

  • (of a value or rate) To decrease slightly. 

flipper

noun
  • A flat, wide, paddle-like rubber covering for the foot, used in swimming. 

  • Television remote control, clicker. 

  • A type of ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, which spins backwards and skids off the pitch with a low bounce. 

  • A flat lever in a pinball machine, triggered by the player to strike the ball and keep it in play. 

  • A kind of false tooth, usually temporary. 

  • A small flat used to support a larger one. 

  • Someone who flips, in the sense of buying a house or other asset and selling it quickly for profit. 

  • Someone who flips in any other sense, for example throwing a coin. 

  • In marine mammals such as whales, a wide flat limb, adapted for swimming. 

  • A kitchen spatula. 

verb
  • To lift one or both flippers out of the water and slap the surface of the water. 

How often have the words dip and flipper occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )