"dip a toe into" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dips a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipping a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipped a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipped a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "dip a toe into (third-person singular simple present dips a toe into, present participle dipping a toe into, simple past and past participle dipped a toe into)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "dip one's toe in"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987 July, “Chez Dominique”, in New York Magazine, volume 20, number 27",
          "text": "Artists' books seldom dip a toe into literature.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country",
          "text": "Surfers Paradise is just over the border in Queensland, and I was eager to dip a toe into that interesting and erratic state.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, China Williams, George Dunford, Southeast Asia on a shoestring",
          "text": "Surabaya's crumbling old town is the best place to dip a toe into the city's soul.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of dip one's toe in."
      ],
      "id": "en-dip_a_toe_into-en-verb-ZGVgTOZi",
      "links": [
        [
          "dip one's toe in",
          "dip one's toe in#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, figuratively) Alternative form of dip one's toe in."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "figuratively",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-dip a toe into.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dip a toe into"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dips a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipping a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipped a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "dipped a toe into",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "dip a toe into (third-person singular simple present dips a toe into, present participle dipping a toe into, simple past and past participle dipped a toe into)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "dip one's toe in"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987 July, “Chez Dominique”, in New York Magazine, volume 20, number 27",
          "text": "Artists' books seldom dip a toe into literature.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country",
          "text": "Surfers Paradise is just over the border in Queensland, and I was eager to dip a toe into that interesting and erratic state.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, China Williams, George Dunford, Southeast Asia on a shoestring",
          "text": "Surabaya's crumbling old town is the best place to dip a toe into the city's soul.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of dip one's toe in."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dip one's toe in",
          "dip one's toe in#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, figuratively) Alternative form of dip one's toe in."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "figuratively",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-dip a toe into.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-au-dip_a_toe_into.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dip a toe into"
}