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Divine Comedy, The
bed) on a base, usually without back or arms 2 (often cap.) (in
former times) a state council room in some Eastern coun-
tries, especially Turkey
dive¹ /daɪv/ v dived || also dove /dəʊv/ AmE — [I] 1 {[in, off, from,
into]} to throw oneself head first into water: The girl dived
into the swimming pool. | The bird dived into the water to
catch the fish. → see also SKIN-DIVE 2 {[down, for]} to go under
the surface of the water: They are diving for gold from the
Spanish wreck. | a diving suit (=a special suit worn by
people who dive) 3 {+adv/prep} to move quickly on land or in
air, downwards, head first, or out of sight: The rabbit dived
into its hole. | He dived into the doorway/under the table so
they wouldn't see him. | The engines failed and the plane dived
to the ground. | He dived into (=put his hands into) the bag
and brought out two red apples.
dive in phr v [I] to start doing something quickly and
eagerly: We all dived in and helped ourselves to the food.
dive² n 1 an act of diving: a
graceful dive into the pool |
When the shots sounded in
the street, we made a dive
for the nearest door-
way. 2 infml a not very
respectable place for meet-
ing, drinking etc: a low
dive 3 take a dive slang to
agree to lose a match dishon-
estly, especially a BOXING
match
dive-bomb v [I;T] (of a plane) to dive and then bomb: to
dive-bomb a crowd of people —er n
div·er /'daɪvəʳ/ n a person who dives, especially one who
works at the bottom of the sea in special clothing with a
supply of air
di·verge /daɪ'vɜːdʒ, d-||-ɜːr-/ v [(from)] to separate and go
on in different directions: This is where our opinions diverge
(from each other).
di·ver·gence /daɪ'vɜːdʒəns, dʒ-||-ɜːr-/ n [C;U] (an example
of) the action or amount of diverging —gent adj: divergent
opinions —gently adv
di·vers /'daɪvəz||-ərz/ adj [A] old use or humor many different:
Divers persons were present, of all stations in life.
di·verse /daɪ'vɜːs||dʒ'vɜːrs, daɪ-/ adj different (from each
other); showing variety: many diverse interests | The pro-
gramme deals with subjects as diverse as pop music and
ancient Greek drama. —ly adv
di·ver·si·fy /daɪ'vɜːsɪfaɪ||dʒ'vɜːr-, daɪ-/ v 1 [I;T] to make or
become different in form, quality, aims, or activities;
vary 2 [(into)] (of a business) to change to producing more
and different products in order to make a business larger or
to protect it if the market for certain products fails: Because
of over-production of dairy products, dairy farmers in Europe
are being encouraged to diversify into non-agricultural uses of
land, such as golf courses. | Our factory is trying to diversify
(its range of products). (=to make a large number of different
products) | a publishing company that is now diversifying into
the software market —fication /daɪˌvɜːsɪfɪ'keɪʃən||
dʒˌvɜːr-, daɪ-/ n [U]
di·ver·sion /daɪ'vɜːʃən, dʒ-||-ɜːrʒən/ n 1 [C;U] a turning
aside from a main or usual course, activity, or use: the
diversion of a river to supply water to the farms | a traffic
diversion due to an accident on the main road 2 [C] some-
thing that turns someone's attention away from something
else that one does not wish to be noticed: I think your last
argument was a diversion to make us forget the main point. |
The bank robbers created a diversion to distract the atten-
tion of the police. 3 [C] something that amuses people: Big
cities have lots of cinemas and other diversions.
di·ver·sion·ary /daɪ'vɜːʃənəri, dʒ-||-ɜːrʒəneri/ adj
intended to form a diversion from the most important
operation or main point: diversionary tactics
di·ver·si·ty /daɪ'vɜːsɪti, dʒ-||-ɜːr-/ n [S;U(of)] the condition
of being different or having differences; variety: a consider-
able diversity of opinion on this issue | the cultural diversity of
the United States
di·vert /daɪ'vɜːt, dʒ-||-ɜːrt/ v [T] 1 {(from, to)} to cause to turn
aside or change from one use or direction to another: They
diverted the river to supply water to the town. | diverted
traffic | to divert additional government resources to the inner
cities 2 {(from)} to turn (a person, attention, criticism etc)
away from something; DISTRACT: The outbreak of fighting in
the North has diverted public attention away from other
national problems. 3 fml to amuse: a new game to divert the
children | a diverting game
di·vest /daɪ'vest, dʒ-/ v
divest sbdy. of sthg. phr v [T] fml 1 to take away (the official
position, special rights, property etc) of: They divested the
king of all his power. 2 to take off (the ceremonial clothes)
of 3 to cause (oneself) to get rid of (especially business
operations or false ideas): The American conglomerate GIO is
to divest itself of its oil interests. | to divest oneself of pride
di·vest·ment /daɪ'vestmənt/ also di·ves·ti·ture
/daɪ'vesttʃəʳ||-tʃʊər/ n [U] AmE for DISINVESTMENT
di·vide¹ /dɪ'vad/ v 1 [I;T(into, from, between)] to separate into
two or more parts or groups: The class divided into three
groups when we went on our outing. | Divide this line into 20
equal parts. | Divide it in half. | The country is divided into 12
provinces. | A low wall divides our garden from our neigh-
bour's garden. | He divides his time between working and
looking after the children. 2 [T(up, between, among, with)] to
separate and give out or share: The prize money will be
divided up/will be equally divided between/among the three
winners. | Divide the cake with your sister. 3 [I;T(by, into)] to
find out how many times one number contains or is
contained in another number: Divide 15 by 3. | 15 divided by
3 is 5. | 3 divides into 15 5 times. → compare MULTIPLY 4 [T] to
be an important cause of disagreement between; separate
into opposing groups: The issue of education policy divided
the party. | The opposition groups are hopelessly divided. | a
clear dividing line between those for and those against the
motion 5 [I] tech to vote by separating into groups: Parlia-
ment divided on the question, and the Government won nar-
rowly.
divide² n 1 [(between)] fml a difference; lack of sameness or
UNITY: the divide between two political systems | the North-
South divide 2 tech a line of high land that comes between
two different river systems; WATERSHED → see CONTINENTAL
DIVIDE 3 euph the great divide a) death (separating the
dead from the living): He has crossed the great divide. b) the
most important difference: The great divide between the
upper and lower town is the quality of the shops.
di·vid·ed 'highway n AmE for DUAL CARRIAGEWAY
div·i·dend /'dɪvɪdənd, -dend/ n 1 that part of the money
made by a business, which is divided among those who own
shares in the business, usually twice a year: The company
declared a large dividend at the end of the year. 2 tech a
number to be divided by another number → compare
DIVISOR 3 pay dividends to produce an advantage, espe-
cially as a result of earlier action: Their decision five years
ago to computerize the company is now paying (handsome)
dividends.
di·vid·er /dɪ'vaɪdəʳ/ n a stiff card that sticks out and is used
to separate two sets of pages in a FILE
di·vid·ers /dɪ'vaɪdəz||-ərz/ n [P] an instrument for measur-
ing or marking off lines, angles etc → see PAIR (USAGE)
div·i·na·tion /ˌdɪvɪ'neɪʃən/ n [U] the act or skill of telling
the unknown or the future, usually by reading certain
events as signs from God
di·vine¹ /dɪ'vaɪn/ adj 1 [no comp.] of, connected with, or
being God or a god: divine worship | to attend divine service
(=an act of worship in church) 2 infml old-fash (used especially
by women) extremely good; WONDERFUL: The meal was sim-
ply divine! —ly adv
divine² v 1 [T] fml or lit to discover or guess (something
unknown) by or as if by magic: [+obj/wh-] At last I divined the
truth/divined what she meant. 2 [(for);T] also dowse — to (try
to) find underground water or minerals with a special
Y-shaped stick (divining rod/dowsing rod) that is believed to
point towards them. People who do this claim that it works,
but many other people do not believe it because it cannot be
tested or proved scientifically: He divined (for) water on my
farm.
divine³ n now rare a priest, especially of the Christian religion
Di·vine 'Comedy, The a long poem in three parts, written