DIPPER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Dipper mean? 

• DIPPER (noun)
  The noun DIPPER has 5 senses:

1. a ladle that has a cup with a long handle

2. a cluster of seven stars in Ursa Minor; at the end of the dipper's handle is Polaris

3. a group of seven bright stars in the constellation Ursa Major

4. small North American diving duck; males have bushy head plumage

5. small stocky diving bird without webbed feet; frequents fast-flowing streams and feeds along the bottom

  Familiarity information: DIPPER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIPPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A ladle that has a cup with a long handle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("dipper" is a kind of...):

ladle (a spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; frequently used to transfer liquids from one container to another)

Derivation:

dip (dip into a liquid while eating)

dip (immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A cluster of seven stars in Ursa Minor; at the end of the dipper's handle is Polaris

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Dipper; Little Dipper

Instance hypernyms:

asterism ((astronomy) a cluster of stars (or a small constellation))

Meronyms (members of "Dipper"):

North Star; polar star; Polaris; pole star; polestar (the brightest star in Ursa Minor; at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper; the northern axis of the earth points toward it)

Holonyms ("Dipper" is a part of...):

Little Bear; Ursa Minor (a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A group of seven bright stars in the constellation Ursa Major

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Big Dipper; Charles's Wain; Dipper; Plough; Wagon; Wain

Instance hypernyms:

asterism ((astronomy) a cluster of stars (or a small constellation))

Holonyms ("Dipper" is a part of...):

Great Bear; Ursa Major (a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Small North American diving duck; males have bushy head plumage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Bucephela albeola; bufflehead; butterball; dipper

Hypernyms ("dipper" is a kind of...):

duck (small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs)

Holonyms ("dipper" is a member of...):

Bucephala; genus Bucephala (buffleheads and goldeneyes)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Small stocky diving bird without webbed feet; frequents fast-flowing streams and feeds along the bottom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

dipper; water ouzel

Hypernyms ("dipper" is a kind of...):

oscine; oscine bird (passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dipper"):

Cinclus aquaticus; European water ouzel (a water ouzel of Europe)

American water ouzel; Cinclus mexicanus (a water ouzel of western North America)

Holonyms ("dipper" is a member of...):

Cinclidae; family Cinclidae (water ouzels)