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Dab
Definitions
- 1 Bad. obsolete
"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.""
- 1 With a dab, or sudden contact. not-comparable
- 1 Initialism of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (a pro-Beijing political party in the HKSAR). Hong-Kong, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 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."
- 2 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."
- 3 A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
- 4 Initialism of digital audio broadcasting. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 5 a light touch or stroke wordnet
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- 6 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.”"
- 7 A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys. US
- 8 a dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm and the elbow in a gesture that has been noted to resemble sneezing wordnet
- 9 A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
"a dab of glue"
- 10 a small quantity of something moist or liquid wordnet
- 11 A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.; A small amount of hash oil. slang
- 12 Fingerprint. British, dated, in-plural
"One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom."
- 13 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.
- 14 A dabbler. obsolete
- 1 To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing. transitive
"I dabbed my face with a towel."
- 2 to smoke marijuana using butane hash oil wordnet
- 3 To apply a substance in this way. transitive
"The nurse will dab some ointment on that gash."
- 4 hit lightly wordnet
- 5 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"
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- 6 apply (usually a liquid) to a surface wordnet
- 7 To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion. slang
- 8 to perform a dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm and the elbow in a gesture that has been noted to resemble sneezing wordnet
- 9 To perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body. intransitive
"Look, my bruddas don't dab, we just vossi bop"
- 10 Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
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”).
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”).
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”).
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.
Late Middle English dabbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to sense 1 (“to press against lightly”) as in "a soft mass dabbed down."
Back slang for bad.
See also for "dab"
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