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dab

Pronunciation: /dæb/

The English word “dab” has 18 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
  2. To apply a substance in this way.
  3. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
  4. To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
  5. To perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body.
  6. Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)

noun

  1. A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
  2. A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
  3. A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
  4. A small amount of hash oil.
  5. Fingerprint.
  6. A hip hop dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm, briefly resting their face in the elbow, as if sneezing into their elbow.
  7. A dabbler.
  8. One who is skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.
  9. A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
  10. A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.

adverb

  1. With a dab, or sudden contact.

adjective

  1. Bad.

Etymology

From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba (“to tap, slap”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Compare also with Middle Dutch dabben (“to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble”) (Dutch dabben (“(of a horse) to stamp with the forelegs”)), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), possibly German tappen (“to fumble, grope”). The noun is from Middle English dabbe…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.