noun
- a small, natural hollow area or crease, permanent or transient, in some soft part of the human body, especially one formed in the cheek in smiling.
- any similar slight depression.
verb (used with object), dim·pled, dim·pling.
- to mark with or as if with dimples; produce dimples in: A smile dimpled her face.
- Metalworking.
- to dent (a metal sheet) so as to permit use of bolts or rivets with countersunk heads.
- to mark (a metal object) with a drill point as a guide for further drilling.
verb (used without object), dim·pled, dim·pling.
- to form or show dimples.
noun
- a small natural dent or crease in the flesh, esp on the cheeks or chin
- any slight depression in a surface
- a bubble or dent in glass
verb
- to make or become dimpled
- (intr) to produce dimples by smiling
c.1400, perhaps existing in Old English as a word meaning “pothole,” perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz, which has yielded words in other languages meaning “small pit, little pool” (e.g. German Tümpel “pool,” Middle Low German dümpelen, Dutch dompelen “to plunge”). Related: Dimples.
1570s (implied in dimpled), from dimple (n.).
n.
- A small natural indentation in the chin, cheek, or sacral region, probably due to some developmental fault in the subcutaneous connective tissue or in underlying bone.
- A depression of similar appearance resulting from trauma or the contraction of scar tissue.