dive for

idiom

: to suddenly jump toward (something that is on or near the ground)

He dove for the ball.

When the shooting started, he dove for cover.

—sometimes used figuratively

Her books always have me diving for my dictionary.

Examples of dive for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web While the pelicans' food sources do seem to have numbers, heavy winds or rough seas could affect the birds' ability to dive for their primary food, sardines, mackerel and anchovies, reports VC Star, part of the USA TODAY Network. —

Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 16 May 2024 According to boat owner Bill Oster and yacht manager Skip Lahti, who spoke to PEOPLE in 1984, Wilson had been drinking heavily prior to jumping into the water to dive for unearthed treasures. —

Nicole Briese, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024 This adaptation, along with a lung that nearly spans the length of their body, enables sea snakes to dive for up to hours at a time. —

Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2023 Diving Ducks As the name implies, diving ducks such as greater and lesser scaup, canvasbacks, and redheads dive for their meals. —

M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 2 Nov. 2023 See all Example Sentences for dive for

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dive for.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.