dab
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dab¹
- /dæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
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”).
verb dabs · dabbing · dabbed
- To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing. I dabbed my face with a towel.
- To apply a substance in this way. The nurse will dab some ointment on that gash.
- 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
- 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. Look, my bruddas don't dab, we just vossi bop
-
Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
Similar: daub
noun dabs
- A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow. I promise you nothing,' said the dolls' dressmaker, dabbing two dabs at him with her needle, as if she put out both his eyes.
- A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval. She gave a few more dabs to his buttocks. “There. By the time you've made love to me those weals will have dried up.”
-
A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
a dab of glue
Similar: blob, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb, glimpse, dab
-
A small amount of hash oil.
Similar: blob, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb, glimpse, dab
- Fingerprint. One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom.
- 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.
Similar: amateur, dilettante
adverb
- With a dab, or sudden contact.
dab²
- /dæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
Unknown. First use in print was in 1691, in The Athenian Mercury; it is also found in the Dictionary of the Canting Crew of 1698; see quotations for both. Originally used in the cant of criminals, and later in school slang. It may be a profound alteration of adept, likely from deliberate slangy usage thereof (rather than natural sound-change), which if true would give such earlier forms as *adep (or *dept) > *dep > *deb.
noun dabs
-
One who is skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.
for little Urchin as he is, he‘s ſuch a Dab at his Bow and Arrows‘ that ne‘re a Finsbury Archer of ‘em all can pretend to come near him.
Similar: adept, ace, artist, buff, crackerjack, crack hand, dab, dab hand, dabster, don hand, expert, Jedi Master
dab³
- /dæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
Late Middle English dabbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to sense 1 (“to press against lightly”) as in "a soft mass dabbed down."
noun dabs
- A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
- A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.
dab⁴
- /dæb/
Rhymes with -æb
Where it comes from
Back slang for bad.
adjective more dab · most dab
- Bad. 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."
DAB⁵
noun
- Initialism of digital audio broadcasting
proper noun
- Initialism of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (a pro-Beijing political party in the HKSAR).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: splash, splatter, swab, tap, pat, swob, smear, pinch, cod, smack, cloud, dam, smidgen, nab, pbr, insense
Translations
Every language
verb apply softly tapping
| 中文 | 敷 fū |
|---|---|
| Português | aplicar de leve |
| Deutsch | auftupfen |
verb softly tap
| 中文 | 輕觸 /轻触 |
|---|---|
| Português | tocar de leve |
| Français | tapoter, tamponner |
| Deutsch | tupfen |
noun small amount, blob
| Deutsch | Klacks, Klecks |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | μικροποσότητα mikroposótita |
noun flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae
| 中文 | 比目魚 /比目鱼 bǐmùyú, 黃蓋鰈 /黄盖鲽 |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | λιμάνδη η κοινή limándi i koiní |
Talk about this word "dab." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dab. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dab. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dab "dab." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dab.Cite this
@misc{dab_2026,
title = {dab},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dab},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
