dip into

See also: dipinto, Dipinto, DiPinto, and Di Pinto

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

dip into (third-person singular simple present dips into, present participle dipping into, simple past and past participle dipped into)

1. (transitive) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: dip into.

   Dip the teabag into the cup.

2. (transitive, idiomatic) To spend some of a source of money (such as one's savings).
   • 1976 August 28, John C. Lawrence, “H.C.H.S Support”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 9, page 5:

     If people in the community wish HCHS to survive, then it's time they dip into the old checkbook and demonstrated their commitment.

3. (transitive, idiomatic) To read, examine or engage in (something) in a cursory or casual manner.

   Dip into a nice book.

   • 2021 May 7, Maya Phillips, “For Mother’s Day, a Healing Meditation on Mortality”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     “The Midnight Gospel,” which debuted on Netflix last year, is a show that I dipped into slowly, like a pint of oddly flavored artisanal ice cream: It was tasty yet confounding, more idiosyncratic than my usual preferred flavors, suitable for consumption only when I was in a very specific mood.

   • 2023 March 16, Julia Felsenthal, “An Artist Whose Work Might (Possibly) Have Its Own Free Will”, in The New York Times Style Magazine‎^[2]:

     Surveying the breadth of Auerbach’s practice and the diverse bodies of knowledge they dip into, I began to think of the artist as a sort of antenna, picking up invisible signals from across time and space (this impression was likely bolstered by the way they wear their eyeliner: antenna-like, drawn an inch or so past each outer canthus).