Dip vs. Hump — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 18, 2024
A dip is a downward slope or depression in a surface, whereas a hump is an upward rise or bump on a surface.
Difference Between Dip and Hump
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A dip refers to a downward slope or a slight depression in a surface, often found in roads, landscapes, or physical structures. Dips can occur naturally, such as in valleys or hollows, or be man-made, like in dips in roads designed to manage water runoff. A hump, on the other hand, is an upward rise or bump on a surface, commonly seen in roads, landscapes, or physical structures. Humps can also occur naturally, like hills or ridges, or be artificial, such as speed humps in roads designed to slow down traffic.
While dips are characterized by a downward motion and can cause accumulation of materials like water, humps are marked by an upward motion and can help regulate speed or control traffic. Both features are significant in various contexts but serve different functional roles.
In landscapes, a dip might be a depression that collects water, whereas a hump could be a hill or elevated area that influences drainage. In road design, dips can be challenging for drainage, while humps are used strategically to enhance safety.
Dips and humps both play essential roles in environmental and infrastructural design, shaping how surfaces are navigated and managed.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Downward slope or depression
Upward rise or bump
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Occurrence
Natural (valleys) or man-made (road dips)
Natural (hills) or man-made (speed humps)
Impact
Can collect water, affect traffic flow
Can regulate speed, control traffic
Role in Road Design
May require caution, manage runoff
Used for traffic calming, safety
Influence on Movement
Causes downward motion
Causes upward motion
Compare with Definitions
Dip
A downward slope or depression in a surface.
The car slowed down as it approached the dip in the road.
Hump
A rounded mass or protuberance, such as the fleshy structure on the back of a camel or of some cattle.
Dip
A slight hollow or indentation in the ground.
Rainwater collected in the dip at the bottom of the hill.
Hump
A deformity of the back in humans caused by an abnormal convex curvature of the upper spine.
Dip
A savory sauce for dipping food.
She served chips with a spicy cheese dip.
Hump
A low mound of earth; a hummock.
Dip
To plunge briefly into a liquid, as in order to wet, coat, or saturate.
Hump
A mountain range.
Dip
To color or dye by immersing
Dip Easter eggs.
Hump
Chiefly British A fit of depression; an emotional slump.
Dip
To immerse (a sheep or other animal) in a disinfectant solution.
Hump
To bend or round into a hump; arch.
Dip
To form (a candle) by repeatedly immersing a wick in melted wax or tallow.
Hump
To exert (oneself).
Dip
To galvanize or plate (metal) by immersion.
Hump
To carry, especially on the back.
Dip
To scoop up by plunging the hand or a receptacle below the surface, as of a liquid; ladle
Dip water out of a bucket.
Hump
A mound of earth.
Dip
To lower and raise (a flag) in salute.
Hump
A speed bump or speed hump.
Dip
To lower or drop (something) suddenly
Dipped my head to avoid the branch.
Hump
A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.
Dip
(Slang) To pick the pockets of.
Hump
A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
Dip
To plunge into water or other liquid and come out quickly.
Hump
A bad mood.
She's got the hump with me.
Go away! You're giving me the right hump.
Dip
To plunge the hand or a receptacle into liquid or a container, especially so as to take something up or out
I dipped into my pocket for some coins.
Hump
(slang) A painfully boorish person.
That guy is such a hump!
Dip
To withdraw a small amount from a fund
We dipped into our savings.
Hump
A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.
Dip
To drop down or sink out of sight suddenly
The sun dipped below the horizon.
Hump
(transitive) To bend something into a hump.
Dip
To drop suddenly before climbing. Used of an aircraft.
Hump
To carry (something), especially with some exertion.
Dip
To slope downward; decline
The road dipped.
Hump
To dry-hump.
Stop humping the table, you sicko.
Dip
To decline slightly and usually temporarily
Sales dipped after Christmas.
Hump
To prepare for a great exertion; to put forth effort.
Dip
(Geology) To lie at an angle to the horizontal plane, as a rock stratum or vein.
Hump
To vex or annoy.
Dip
To read here and there at random; browse
Dipping into Chaucer.
Hump
(rail) To shunt wagons / freight cars over the hump in a hump yard.
Dip
To investigate a subject superficially; dabble
Dipped into psychology.
Hump
A protuberance; especially, the protuberance formed by a crooked back.
Dip
(Slang) To steal by picking pockets.
Hump
A fleshy protuberance on the back of an animal, as a camel or whale.
Dip
To place a preparation of finely shredded tobacco in one's mouth.
Hump
A portion of a switchyard with a slanting track in which freight cars may coast without an engine and be sorted through a series of switches.
Dip
A brief plunge or immersion, especially a quick swim.
Hump
To form into a hump; to make hump-shaped; to hunch; - often with up.
The cattle were very uncomfortable, standing humped up in the bushes.
Dip
A liquid into which something is dipped, as for dyeing or disinfecting.
Hump
To put or carry on the (humped) back; to shoulder; hence, to carry, in general.
Having collected a sufficient quantity, we humped it out of the bush.
Dip
A savory creamy mixture into which crackers, raw vegetables, or other foods may be dipped.
Hump
To bend or gather together for strenuous effort, as in running; to do or effect by such effort; to exert; - usually reflexively or with it; as, you must hump yourself.
A half dozen other negroes, some limping and all scared, were humping it across a meadow.
Dip
An amount taken up by dipping.
Hump
To sort freight cars by means of a hump.
Dip
A container for dipping.
Hump
Something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from a form
Dip
A candle made by repeated dipping in tallow or wax.
Hump
Arch one's back
Dip
A downward slope; a decline.
Hump
N upward rise or bump on a surface.
The truck slowed down to cross the hump on the road.
Dip
A sharp downward course; a drop
A dip in prices.
Hump
A rounded protuberance or elevation.
The camel's hump stores fat for long journeys.
Dip
(Geology) The downward inclination of a rock stratum or vein in reference to the plane of the horizon.
Hump
A sudden increase or peak.
There was a hump in sales during the holiday season.
Dip
(Linguistics) A part of a phrase or sentence that is unstressed or less strongly stressed relative to surrounding words, as the words I and to in I have to go.
Hump
A mound or ridge in a landscape.
The trail climbed over a grassy hump before descending again.
Dip
The unstressed portion of a metrical foot.
Hump
A temporary obstacle or challenge.
Getting past the initial hump of the project was the hardest part.
Dip
Magnetic dip.
Dip
A hollow or depression.
Dip
(Sports) A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered by bending the elbows until the chin reaches the level of the bars and then is raised by straightening the arms.
Dip
(Slang) A pickpocket.
Dip
(Slang) A foolish or stupid person.
Dip
A preparation of finely shredded tobacco, usually placed between the lower lip and gum. Also called snuff.
Dip
A lower section of a road or geological feature.
There is a dip in the road ahead.
Dip
Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.
Dip
The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid.
Dip
A tank or trough where cattle or sheep are immersed in chemicals to kill parasites.
Dip
A dip stick.
Dip
A swim, usually a short swim to refresh.
I’m going for a dip before breakfast.
Dip
A pickpocket.
Dip
A sauce for dipping.
This onion dip is just scrumptious.
Dip
(geology) The angle from horizontal of a planar geologic surface, such as a fault line.
Dip
(archaic) A dipped candle.
Dip
(dance) A move in many different styles of partner dances, often performed at the end of a dance, in which the follower leans far to the side and is supported by the leader.
Dip
(bodybuilding) A gymnastic or bodybuilding exercise on parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms.
Dip
(turpentine industry) The viscid exudation that is dipped out from incisions in the trees. Virgin dip is the runnings of the first year, yellow dip the runnings of subsequent years.
Dip
(aeronautics) A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole.
Dip
(uncountable) The moist form of snuff tobacco.
Dip
The act of missing out on seeing a sought after bird.
Dip
Fried bread.
Dip
A financial asset in decline, seen as an investment opportunity.
Buy the dips
Dip
(informal) A foolish person.
Dip
(informal) A diplomat.
Dip
(transitive) To lower into a liquid.
Dip your biscuit into your tea.
Dip
(intransitive) To immerse oneself; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.
Dip
(intransitive) (of a value or rate) To decrease slightly.
Dip
(transitive) To lower a light's beam.
Dip your lights as you meet an oncoming car.
Dip
(transitive) To lower (a flag), particularly a national ensign, to a partially hoisted position in order to render or to return a salute. While lowered, the flag is said to be “at the dip.” A flag being carried on a staff may be dipped by leaning it forward at an approximate angle of 45 degrees.
The sailor rushed to the flag hoist to dip the flag in return.
Dip
(transitive) To treat cattle or sheep by immersion in chemical solution.
The farmer is going to dip the cattle today.
Dip
(transitive) To use a dip stick to check oil level in an engine.
Dip
To consume snuff by placing a pinch behind the lip or under the tongue so that the active chemical constituents of the snuff may be absorbed into the system for their narcotic effect.
Dip
(transitive) To immerse for baptism.
Dip
(transitive) To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten.
Dip
(intransitive) To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair.
Dip
(transitive) To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; often with out.
To dip water from a boiler; to dip out water
Dip
(intransitive) To perform the action of plunging a dipper, ladle. etc. into a liquid or soft substance and removing a part.
Dip
(transitive) To engage as a pledge; to mortgage.
Dip
(transitive) To perform (a bow or curtsey) by inclining the body.
Dip
(intransitive) To incline downward from the plane of the horizon.
Strata of rock dip.
Dip
To perform a dip dance move (often phrased with the leader as the subject noun and the follower as the subject noun being dipped)
Dip
To lower the body by bending the knees while keeping the body in an upright position, as in movement to the rhythm of music.
Dip
To leave.
He dipped out of the room so fast.
Dip
To miss out on seeing a sought after bird.
Dip
To plunge or immerse; especially, to put for a moment into a liquid; to insert into a fluid and withdraw again.
The priest shall dip his finger in the blood.
[Wat'ry fowl] now dip their pinions in the briny deep.
While the prime swallow dips his wing.
Dip
To immerse for baptism; to baptize by immersion.
Dip
To wet, as if by immersing; to moisten.
A cold shuddering dewDips me all o'er.
Dip
To plunge or engage thoroughly in any affair.
He was . . . dipt in the rebellion of the Commons.
Dip
To take out, by dipping a dipper, ladle, or other receptacle, into a fluid and removing a part; - often with out; as, to dip water from a boiler; to dip out water.
Dip
To engage as a pledge; to mortgage.
Live on the use and never dip thy lands.
Dip
To immerse one's self; to become plunged in a liquid; to sink.
The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out.
Dip
To perform the action of plunging some receptacle, as a dipper, ladle. etc.; into a liquid or a soft substance and removing a part.
Whoever dips too deep will find death in the pot.
Dip
To pierce; to penetrate; - followed by in or into.
When I dipt into the future.
Dip
To enter slightly or cursorily; to engage one's self desultorily or by the way; to partake limitedly; - followed by in or into.
Dip
To incline downward from the plane of the horizon; as, strata of rock dip.
Dip
To dip snuff.
Dip
The action of dipping or plunging for a moment into a liquid.
Dip
Inclination downward; direction below a horizontal line; slope; pitch.
Dip
A hollow or depression in a surface, especially in the ground.
Dip
A liquid, as a sauce or gravy, served at table with a ladle or spoon.
Dip
A dipped candle.
Dip
A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the performer, resting on his hands, lets his arms bend and his body sink until his chin is level with the bars, and then raises himself by straightening his arms.
Dip
In the turpentine industry, the viscid exudation, which is dipped out from incisions in the trees; as, virgin dip (the runnings of the first year), yellow dip (the runnings of subsequent years).
Dip
A sudden drop followed by a climb, usually to avoid obstacles or as the result of getting into an airhole.
Dip
A liquid, in which objects are soaked by dipping; e.g., a parasiticide or insecticide solution into which animals are dipped (see sheep-dip).
Dip
A sauce into which foods are dipped to enhance the flavor; e. g., an onion dip made from sour cream and dried onions, into which potato chips are dipped.
Dip
A pickpocket.
Dip
A depression in an otherwise level surface;
There was a dip in the road
Dip
(physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon
Dip
A thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places
Dip
Tasty mixture or liquid into which bite-sized foods are dipped
Dip
A brief immersion
Dip
A sudden sharp decrease in some quantity;
A drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index
There was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery
A dip in prices
When that became known the price of their stock went into free fall
Dip
A candle that is made by repeated dipping in a pool of wax or tallow
Dip
A brief swim in water
Dip
A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered and raised by bending and straightening the arms
Dip
Immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate;
Dip the garment into the cleaning solution
Dip the brush into the paint
Dip
Dip into a liquid while eating;
She dunked the piece of bread in the sauce
Dip
Go down momentarily;
Prices dipped
Dip
Stain an object by immersing it in a liquid
Dip
Switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
Dip
Lower briefly;
She dipped her knee
Dip
Appear to move downward;
The sun dipped below the horizon
The setting sun sank below the tree line
Dip
Slope downwards;
Our property dips towards the river
Dip
Dip into a liquid;
He dipped into the pool
Dip
Of candles; by dipping the wick into hot, liquid wax
Dip
Immerse in a disinfectant solution;
Dip the sheep
Dip
Scoop up by plunging one's hand or a ladle below the surface;
Dip water out of a container
Dip
A temporary decrease or decline.
There was a dip in temperature during the night.
Dip
A scoop or immersion into a liquid.
He took a quick dip in the pool to cool off.
Common Curiosities
What effect do dips have on water flow?
Dips can collect water, potentially leading to puddles or drainage issues.
What is a dip in a road?
A dip in a road is a downward slope or depression that can affect vehicle movement and water drainage.
Are humps always man-made?
No, humps can be natural, like hills, or man-made, like speed humps.
Can dips be natural features?
Yes, dips can be natural, such as valleys or hollows in landscapes.
What materials are used for speed humps?
Speed humps can be made from asphalt, rubber, or plastic.
How do humps affect vehicle speed?
Humps are used to slow down vehicles, improving safety in certain areas.
Can dips be used intentionally in design?
Yes, dips can be designed to manage water runoff or for aesthetic purposes.
Can dips indicate a problem in infrastructure?
Yes, unexpected dips can signal structural issues that need to be addressed.
What is a hump on a road?
A hump on a road is an upward rise or bump designed to slow down traffic for safety purposes.
How are dips different from potholes?
Dips are gradual depressions, while potholes are sudden, often damaging holes in a surface.
What is a speed hump?
A speed hump is a raised area on a road designed to reduce vehicle speed.
Are dips and humps used in landscaping?
Yes, both dips and humps are used in landscaping to create visual interest and manage water flow.
Do humps serve a purpose in agriculture?
Yes, humps can help with irrigation and soil conservation in agricultural fields.
What is a camel’s hump?
A camel’s hump is a natural rise that stores fat, helping it survive long periods without food.
Are dips used in sports terminology?
Yes, in sports, a dip can refer to a temporary decline in performance.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
