DOVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Dove

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/dəv/ /doʊv/ Listen

noun

Dove n.

(Zool.) A pigeon of the genus Columba and various related genera. The species are numerous. Note: The domestic dove, including the varieties called fantails, tumblers, carrier pigeons, etc., was derived from the rock pigeon (Columba livia) of Europe and Asia; the turtledove of Europe, celebrated for its sweet, plaintive note, is Columba turtur or Turtur vulgaris; the ringdove, the largest of European species, is Columba palumbus; the Carolina dove, or Mourning dove, is Zenaidura macroura; the sea dove is the little auk (Mergulus alle or Alle alle). See Turtledove, Ground dove, and Rock pigeon. The dove is a symbol of peace, innocence, gentleness, and affection; also, in art and in the Scriptures, the typical symbol of the Holy Ghost.

A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle. "O my dove,... let me hear thy voice."

A person advocating peace, compromise or conciliation rather than war or conflict. Opposite of hawk.

Dove tick (Zool.), a mite (Argas reflexus) which infests doves and other birds.

Soiled dove, a prostitute. (Slang)

verb

Dive v. t. (past & past part. dived, colloq. dove; pres. part. diving)

To plunge (a person or thing) into water; to dip; to duck. (Obs.)

To explore by diving; to plunge into. (R.) "The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame." "He dives the hollow, climbs the steeps."

Dive v. i. (past & past part. dived, colloq. dove; pres. part. diving)

To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid. "It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them." Note: The colloquial form dove is common in the United States as an imperfect tense form. "All (the walruses) dove down with a tremendous splash." "When closely pressed it (the loon) dove... and left the young bird sitting in the water."

Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.

See images of 'Dove'

Etymology of 'Dove'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Dove" Quotes from Famous Books

... Andy swum, an' dove, an' come up blubberin', an' dodged all sorts of floatin' an' pitchin' stuff, fur the swell was still on. But he couldn't even be so much as sartin that he'd found the canned vittles. To dive down through hatchways, an' among broken bulkheads, to hunt fur any partiklar kind ...

— The Magic Egg and Other Stories • Frank Stockton

... fading into a light around the distant hills. Under overhanging branches I lie, sheltered from the sun; at my feet the ripples caress the bank; delicate lianas hang from the branches and trail lazily in the water. Swallows dart across the stream, and sometimes the low call of a wood-dove sounds from far away. A cricket shrieks, and stops suddenly, as if shocked at the discordant sound of its own voice. Far off in the hills I can hear the rushing of the wind, like a deep chord that unites ...

— Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific • Felix Speiser

... Rupert told his story, and how sweetly she was moved by the pathos of it. Once or twice she made an involuntary movement forward, as if she was drawn towards him, and uttered a lovely low exclamation which was a little like the broken coo of a dove. Rupert did not know that there was pathos in his relation. He made only a simple picture of things, but as he went on Tom saw all the effect of the hot little town left ruined and apathetic after the struggle ...

— In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim • Frances Hodgson Burnett

... to drop in where there was sickness or trouble an' spied a nosegay of flowers, you could be pretty sure Delight had been there. Why, Lyman Bearse's father, old Lyman, that's so crabbed with rhumatism that it's a cross to live under the same roof with him, will calm down gentle as a dove when Delight goes to read to him. As for Mis' Furber, I reckon she'd never get to the Junction to do a mite of shoppin' or marketin' but for Delight stayin' with the babies whilst she was gone. I couldn't tell you half what that girl does. She's here, there, an' everywhere. Now she's gettin' ...

— Flood Tide • Sara Ware Bassett

... dove-cotes was seldom seen, and sound of wedding-bells rarely heard with such gleeful joy. It was a love-match, and, therefore, a popular event all over the land. Only a few weeks before, the Duke's horse had won the Derby, and the ovation given him by the racing fraternity was unprecedented to any ...

— The Portland Peerage Romance • Charles J. Archard

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