Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to pawn, to mortgage; thus dipped, in debt, mortgaged; dip one’s rigging, to pawn one’s clothes.

a.1661		‘The Rota’ in Rump Poems and Songs (1662) II 143: ’Twas well forseen, for the wife of Knot / Thought that the man might have a Plot, / For to have dipped their Ballot.
1693		Dryden Persius VI 83: Put out the principal, in trusty hands: Live of the use; and never dip thy Lands.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Dipt engag’d or in debt, Land pawn’d or mortgag’d. Damnably dipt, deep in debt. He has dipt his Terra firma, he has mortgaged his dirty Acres. [...] The cull has dipt his Tol, c. the Spark has pawn’d his Sword. The Dell has dipt her Rigging, c. the Whore has pawn’d her Cloaths.
1704		Gentleman Instructed 154: He flung himself away upon a Chamber-maid, dipt his Estate.
1711		Spectator No. 114 n.p.: What gives the unhappy man this peevishness of spirit is, that his estate is dipped, and is eating out with usury; and yet he has not the heart to sell any part of it [F&H].
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Dipt, pawned or mortgaged.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1853		Dickens ‘Slang’ in Household Words 24 Sept. 77/1: When his friend has mortgaged his estate, he pronounces it to be ‘dipped.’.
1861		Hills & Plains I 105: ‘I told you, my boy, how I first got dipped — went security for Churbee; he went home sick — died there, — [...] no insurance’.
1862		Thackeray Adventures of Philip (1899) 260: You have but one son, and he has a fortune of his own, as I happen to know. You haven’t dipped it, Master Philip?
1874		Leeds Times 26 June 6/2: People said [...] that he was fearfully shaken by his losses —that he was ‘dipped,’ heavily ’dipped’ my dear, and was mortgaging his patrimony.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 24: Dipped, pawned.
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 25: He’s badly dipped. His horses haven’t been winning and [...] he has a big gambling debt outstanding.