dimple

From Middle English dimpel, dimpil, dympull, from Old English *dympel, from Proto-West Germanic *dumpil, from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz (“sink-hole, dimple”), from Proto-Germanic *dumpaz (“hole, hollow, pit”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- (“deep, hollow”), equivalent to dialectal dump (“deep hole or pool”) +‎ -le (diminutive suffix).

Akin to German Low German Dümpel, German Tümpel (“pond, pool”). Related also to Old English dyppan (“to dip”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪmpəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmpəl

dimple (plural dimples)

1. A small depression or indentation in a surface.

   The accident created a dimple in the hood of the car.

   • 1815, William Wordsworth, The White Doe of Rylstone; or, The Fate of the Nortons:

     The garden pool's dark surface […] breaks into dimples small and bright.

2. Specifically, a small natural depression on the skin, especially on the face near the corners of the mouth.

   You have very cute dimples.

3. A small depression, made with a punch on a metal object, as a guide for further drilling.

• (depression in a surface): dent

dimple (third-person singular simple present dimples, present participle dimpling, simple past and past participle dimpled)

1. (transitive) To create a dimple in.

   The hailstorm dimpled the roof of our car.

2. (intransitive) To create a dimple in one's face by smiling.

   The young girl dimpled in glee as she was handed a cupcake.

3. To form dimples; to sink into depressions or little inequalities.
   • 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

     And smiling eddies dimpled o'er the main.

• (create a dimple in): dent, mar

• impled, limped