For "dipping" you need one or usually several sauces. You then take a piece of food (usually meat, but can also be crackers, tortilla crisps, celery, anything really) and put it into one of several sauce pots standing on the table for all guests, usually with your hand or maybe with a fork. Then you eat it.
Done mostly at American-style barbecues. And make sure you don't DOUBLE-DIP - i.e. bite from your piece and dip again!

Non so come dirlo in italiano...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2004-11-11 18:52:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

\"Dipping\" in connection with olive oil refers to a new trend in Northern cuisine: Due to the \"Mediterranean paradoxon\" - i.e. people in Italy, Spain etc. drink red wine and eat lots of olive oil but are nevertheless healthier (from a cardiovascular perpective) than Englishmen or Germans - you will now find people who buy expensive olive oil + red wine + white bread + maybe olives and dip the bread pieces in the oil for supper.

e' l'unica cosa che mi viene in mente ma non sono certa. vediamo se qualcuno può confermare. Buon lavoro!