dab
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "dab"
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba (“to tap, slap”), perhaps ultimately imitative.[1] 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”).
Verb
dab (third-person singular simple present dabs, present participle dabbing, simple past and past participle dabbed)
- (transitive) To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
- I dabbed my face with a towel.
- (transitive) To apply a substance in this way.
- He dabbed moisturizing liquid on his face.
- To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
- 1532-1533, Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer
- to dabbe him in the necke
- 1532-1533, Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer
- (slang) To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
- (dance, intransitive) To perform the dab dance move, by moving both arms to one side of the body parallel with your head.
- (bingo) Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
Derived terms
Translations
softly tap
apply softly tapping
Noun
dab (plural dabs)
- A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
- 1865, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend:
- I promise you nothing,' said the dolls' dressmaker, dabbing two dabs at him with her needle, as if she put out both his eyes.
- 1917, Robert Hichens, In the Wilderness:
- Then the minute feet made feeble dabs, or stabs, at the atmosphere; the tiny fists doubled themselves and wandered to and fro as if in search of the enemy.
- (African-American Vernacular) A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
- A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
- Synonyms: blob; see also Thesaurus:modicum
- a dab of glue
- (chiefly in the plural, dated, British) Fingerprint.
- 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 132:
- One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom.
- (dance) 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.
- (obsolete) A dabbler.
- Synonyms: amateur, dilettante
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Irish: daba
Translations
soft tap
small amount, blob
fingerprint — see fingerprint
Adverb
dab (not comparable)
Translations
with a dab
See also
Etymology 2
Perhaps corrupted from adept.
Noun
dab (plural dabs)
- One skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled person
- c. 1759-1770?, Oliver Goldsmith, Essay
- One excels at a plan or the title page, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index.
- 1791-92, Jane Austen, ‘A Collection of Letters’, Juvenilia:
- Indeed I had always heard what a dab he was at a Love-letter.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 3
Late Middle English dabbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to sense 1 (“to press against lightly”) as in "a soft mass dabbed down."[2]
Noun
dab (plural dabs)
- A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
- (US) A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.
Descendants
- → Irish: daba
Translations
Etymology 4
Back slang for bad.
Adjective
dab (comparative more dab, superlative most dab)
- (obsolete, costermongers) Bad.
- 1851, Henry Mayhew, “Habits and Amusements of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 11:
- Business topics are discussed in a most peculiar style. One man takes the pipe from his mouth and says, "Bill made a doogheno hit this morning." "Jem," says another, to a man just entering, "you'll stand a top o' reeb?" "On," answers Jem, "I've had a trosseno tol, and have been doing dab."
- 2012, Anthony Quinn, The Streets, →ISBN, page 33:
- One afternoon, arriving at his stall later than usual, I said, almost unknowingly, 'A doogheno or a dabheno?' Jo, who had often chaffed me for my awkward mimicking of coster language, didn't even look up from peeling his apple. 'Dab,' he said, with a little shake of his head.
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “dab”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Skeat, W. W. (2013). An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. United States: Dover Publications, p. 152
Further reading
dab on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - dab (dance) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Oxford English Dictionary (1989)
- “dab”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
See also
- dabchick (etymologically relation unclear)
Anagrams
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