dive headfirst

Meanings

1. 1phraseintransitive

   to jump into water with your head going in before the rest of your body

   Grammar: No object; often followed by into: dive headfirst into the pool.

   Patterns

   • dive headfirst into something

   She climbed to the top board and dived headfirst into the pool.

   He dived headfirst into the waves without checking how deep the water was.

   The children were told not to dive headfirst into the shallow end.

2. 2phraseintransitivefigurative

   to start doing something with complete enthusiasm and no careful planning

   Grammar: No object; usually followed by into: dive headfirst into a new project.

   Patterns

   • dive headfirst into something

   After graduation, she dived headfirst into her first job.

   He tends to dive headfirst into relationships without thinking.

   They dived headfirst into the renovation, buying paint before measuring anything.

Common combinations

dive headfirst into

She dived headfirst into the new language course.

dive headfirst off

He dived headfirst off the diving board.

dive headfirst from

The stuntman dived headfirst from the platform.

Synonyms and how they differ

plunge

Plunge suggests a sudden, forceful downward movement and can be used with or without headfirst; it is more dramatic than dive headfirst.

leap

Leap focuses on jumping, not on the position of the head; you can leap feetfirst, but dive headfirst specifically means head goes in first.

Opposites

Word family

dive verb

To jump into water, usually with your head first and arms stretched out.

diver noun

A person who dives, especially as a sport or job.

Commonly confused: dive headfirst or dive in head first?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “dive headfirst”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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