Library / English Dictionary

DIMPLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small natural hollow in the cheek or chin

Example:

His dimple appeared whenever he smiled

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("dimple" is a kind of...):

depression; impression; imprint (a concavity in a surface produced by pressing)

Derivation:

dimple (produce dimples while smiling)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any slight depression in a surface

Example:

there are approximately 336 dimples on a golf ball

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("dimple" is a kind of...):

depression; impression; imprint (a concavity in a surface produced by pressing)

Derivation:

dimple (mark with, or as if with, dimples)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A chad that has been punched or dimpled but all four corners are still attached

Synonyms:

dimple; dimpled chad; pregnant chad

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("dimple" is a kind of...):

chad (a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Produce dimples while smiling

Example:

The child dimpled up to the adults

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "dimple" is one way to...):

smile (change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

dimple (a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mark with, or as if with, dimples

Example:

drops dimpled the smooth stream

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "dimple" is one way to...):

mark (make or leave a mark on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

dimple (any slight depression in a surface)

Credits

 Context examples: 

No charm was wanting, no defect was perceptible; the young girl had regular and delicate lineaments; eyes shaped and coloured as we see them in lovely pictures, large, and dark, and full; the long and shadowy eyelash which encircles a fine eye with so soft a fascination; the pencilled brow which gives such clearness; the white smooth forehead, which adds such repose to the livelier beauties of tint and ray; the cheek oval, fresh, and smooth; the lips, fresh too, ruddy, healthy, sweetly formed; the even and gleaming teeth without flaw; the small dimpled chin; the ornament of rich, plenteous tresses—all advantages, in short, which, combined, realise the ideal of beauty, were fully hers.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Oh, what an evening, when I sat down by my fire to a basin of mutton broth, dimpled all over with fat, and thought I was going the way of my predecessor, and should succeed to his dismal story as well as to his chambers, and had half a mind to rush express to Dover and reveal all!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Of the shape of the room, of the cracks in the ceiling, of the paper on the walls, of the flaws in the window-glass making ripples and dimples on the prospect, of the washing-stand being rickety on its three legs, and having a discontented something about it, which reminded me of Mrs. Gummidge under the influence of the old one.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But when she drew nearer, and I saw her blue eyes looking bluer, and her dimpled face looking brighter, and her whole self prettier and gayer, a curious feeling came over me that made me pretend not to know her, and pass by as if I were looking at something a long way off.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)