English
dab
see also: DAB
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English dabben, probably of gmq - origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba, perhaps ultimately imitative.

The noun is from Middle English dabbe, from the verb.

African-American sense of “playful box” perhaps influenced by dap ("fistbump").

Verb

dab (dabs, present participle dabbing; simple past and past participle dabbed)

  1. (transitive) To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
    I dabbed my face with a towel.
  2. (transitive) To apply a substance in this way.
    He dabbed moisturizing liquid on his face.
  3. 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
  4. (slang) To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
  5. (dance, intransitive) To perform the dab dance move, by moving both arms to one side of the body parallel with your head.
    • 2019, Stormzy, Vossi Bop:
      Look, my brothas don't dab, we just vossi bop
  6. (bingo) Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
Translations Translations
  • German: auftupfen
Translations Noun

dab (plural dabs)

  1. A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
  2. (AAVE) A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
    Coordinate terms: dap, fist bump, high five
  3. A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
    Synonyms: blob
    a dab of glue
    1. (slang) A small amount of hash oil.
  4. (chiefly, in the plural, dated, British) Fingerprint.
  5. (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.
  6. (obsolete) A dabbler.
Related terms Translations Translations Adverb

dab (not comparable)

  1. With a dab, or sudden contact.
Etymology 2

Perhaps corrupted from adept.

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

  1. One skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.
    Synonyms: 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.
Etymology 3

Late Middle English dabbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to sense 1 as in "a soft mass dabbed down."

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

  1. A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
  2. (US) A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.
Adjective

dab

  1. (obsolete, costers) Bad.
    Synonyms: trosseno
    Antonyms: doog, doogheno
DAB
Noun
  1. Init of digital audio broadcasting
Proper noun
  1. (Hong Kong politics) Init of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (a pro-Beijing political party in the HKSAR)


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