DAB (dabbed, dabbing)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: dabbed    , dabbing   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dab mean? 

• DAB (noun)
  The noun DAB has 2 senses:

1. a light touch or stroke

2. a small quantity of something moist or liquid

  Familiarity information: DAB used as a noun is rare.

• DAB (verb)
  The verb DAB has 2 senses:

1. apply (usually a liquid) to a surface

2. hit lightly

  Familiarity information: DAB used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DAB (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light touch or stroke

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dab; pat; tap

Hypernyms ("dab" is a kind of...):

touch; touching (the act of putting two things together with no space between them)

Derivation:

dab (hit lightly)

dab (apply (usually a liquid) to a surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small quantity of something moist or liquid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

dab; splash; splatter

Context example:

just a splash of whiskey

Hypernyms ("dab" is a kind of...):

small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)

Derivation:

dab (apply (usually a liquid) to a surface)

• DAB (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dab    ... he / she / it dabs   
Past simple: dabbed   
Past participle: dabbed   
-ing form: dabbing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Apply (usually a liquid) to a surface

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dab; swab; swob

Context example:

dab the wall with paint

Hypernyms (to "dab" is one way to...):

apply; put on (apply to a surface)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something with something

Sentence example:

They dab the bread with melted butter

Derivation:

dab (a light touch or stroke)

dab (a small quantity of something moist or liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hit lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dab; pat

Context example:

pat him on the shoulder

Hypernyms (to "dab" is one way to...):

strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

dab (a light touch or stroke)

 Context examples 

The researchers then dabbed two creams onto a participant’s arm.

(Study identifies gene that makes gentle touch feel painful after injury, National Institutes of Health)

"Look here!" he cried, leaning forward and dabbing a great hairy sausage of a finger on to the picture.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By and by, when we had dined in a sumptuous manner off boiled dabs, melted butter, and potatoes, with a chop for me, a hairy man with a very good-natured face came home.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

One day last spring, in town, I was in company with two men, striking instances of what I am talking of; Lord St Ives, whose father we all know to have been a country curate, without bread to eat; I was to give place to Lord St Ives, and a certain Admiral Baldwin, the most deplorable-looking personage you can imagine; his face the colour of mahogany, rough and rugged to the last degree; all lines and wrinkles, nine grey hairs of a side, and nothing but a dab of powder at top. 'In the name of heaven, who is that old fellow?' said I to a friend of mine who was standing near, (Sir Basil Morley).

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)