dimple
n. countablen. a small, round hole or hollow in a surface. You often see them on a person's face when they smile.
n. a small, circular depression or hollow in a surface. Often refers to a facial feature that appears when smiling.
She has a small dimple on her left cheek.
The old wooden table had a deep dimple where the heavy lamp had sat for years.
The artist used a series of tiny dimples in the clay to create a textured effect that caught the light differently than a smooth surface would.
From Middle English dimpel, dimpil, dympull, from Old English dympel, from Proto-West Germanic dumpil, from Proto-Germanic dumpilaz (“sink-hole, dimple”), from Proto-Germanic dumpaz (“hole, hollow, pit”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- (“deep, hollow”), equivalent to dialectal dump (“deep hole or pool”) + -le (diminutive suffix). Akin to German Low German Dümpel, German Tümpel (“pond, pool”). Related also to Old English dyppan (“to dip”).