Link Centre Dictionary

dimple

US/ˈdɪm.pəl/ uncommon
noun (3) verb (2)

noun

1.

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

Synonyms
2.

any slight depression in a surface

  • “there are approximately 336 dimples on a golf ball”
3.

a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin

  • “His dimple appeared whenever he smiled”

verb

1.

mark with, or as if with, dimples

  • “drops dimpled the smooth stream”
2.

produce dimples while smiling

  • “The child dimpled up to the adults”

Origin

From Middle English dimpel, dimpil, dympull, from Old English *dympel (“pit, depression”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumpil, from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz (“sink-hole, dimple”), from Proto-Germanic *dumpaz (“hole, hollow, pit”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- (“deep, hollow”), equivalent to dialectal dump (“deep hole, pool”) + -le (diminutive suffix).

Phrases

  • chin dimple
  • dimple of Venus

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.