DIMPLE

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dimple mean? 

• DIMPLE (noun)
  The noun DIMPLE has 3 senses:

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

2. any slight depression in a surface

3. a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin

  Familiarity information: DIMPLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• DIMPLE (verb)
  The verb DIMPLE has 2 senses:

1. mark with, or as if with, dimples

2. produce dimples while smiling

  Familiarity information: DIMPLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIMPLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

dimple; dimpled chad; pregnant chad

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any slight depression in a surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Context example:

there are approximately 336 dimples on a golf ball

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 small natural hollow in the cheek or chin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Context example:

His dimple appeared whenever he smiled

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

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

Derivation:

dimple (produce dimples while smiling)

• DIMPLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dimple    ... he / she / it dimples   
Past simple: dimpled   
Past participle: dimpled   
-ing form: dimpling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mark with, or as if with, dimples

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

drops dimpled the smooth stream

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Produce dimples while smiling

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

The child dimpled up to the adults

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)

 Context examples 

The skin around the lump may look red, bruised or dimpled.

(Fat necrosis, NCI Dictionary)

This little sunny-faced girl with the dimpled cheek and rosy lips; the satin-smooth hazel hair, and the radiant hazel eyes?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

To see her lay the flowers against her little dimpled chin, was to lose all presence of mind and power of language in a feeble ecstasy.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Fasciculations can often by visualized and take the form of a muscle twitch or dimpling under the skin, but usually do not generate sufficient force to move a limb.

(Fasciculation, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A dimpled condition of the skin of the breast, resembling the skin of an orange, sometimes found in inflammatory breast cancer.

(Peau d'orange, NCI Dictionary)

When he smiles, two little dimples appear on each cheek, which are rosy with health.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I thought there was something in the dimple that didn't quite suit you.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A pit or dimple in front of the ear of a newborn is a common finding; rarely, such a dimple may get infected, which will be manifested with redness and swelling and will require medical attention.

(Ear Dimple, NCI Thesaurus)

She answered it with a second laugh, and laughter well became her youth, her roses, her dimples, her bright eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At length he was quiet—well he might be with her dimpled chin upon his head!—and we walked away to look at a greenhouse.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)