dab
Meanings
Plural: dabs
Noun
- a light touch or stroke
- a small quantity of something moist or liquid
- "a dab of paint"
- A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
- A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
- A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
- A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
- A small amount of hash oil.
- Fingerprint.
- 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.
- A dabbler.
- One who is skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.
- A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
- A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.
Verb
- apply (usually a liquid) to a surface
- "dab the wall with paint"
- hit lightly
- To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
- To apply a substance in this way.
- To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
- To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
- To perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body.
- Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
Adv
- With a dab, or sudden contact.
Adj
- Bad.
Origin / 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 (“a strike, blow”), from the verb. Related to tap. Compare also drub, dub.
African-American sense of “playful box” perhaps influenced by dap (“fistbump”).
Synonyms
ace, adept, amateur, artist, atom, aught, bissel, bit, blob, buff, bump, crack hand, crackerjack, crumb, dab, dab hand, dabster, damn, dash, daub, diddly, dilettante, don hand, dot, drop, dusting, expert, fleck, flip, flyspeck, glimpse, glint, grain, halfpennyworth, hint, inch, iota, Jedi Master, jot, lick, master, maven, mite, modicum, molecule, morceau, morsel, mote, old hand, old soldier, old stager, ooch, ounce, particle, past master, pat, pennyworth, piece, pinch, proficient, scantling, scent, scintilla, scooch, scrap, scruple, semblance, shred, skerrick, skoosh, skosh, sliver, smattering, smidge, smidgen, smidget, smidgy, smitch, smithereen, soupçon, spark, spat, spatter, speck, speckle, splash, splatter, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, swab, swob, tad, tap, tidbit, tidge, tit, tittle, toddick, top gun, touch, trace, trifle, trosseno, tuppence worth, veteran, whiff, whit, whiz, wiz, wizard
Antonyms
doog, doogheno
Scrabble Score: 6
dab is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL worddab is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dab is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary