What does "dart" mean?
A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the hand; for example, a short lance or javelin.
Dart
/dɑːt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the hand; for example, a short lance or javelin.
- Grammar: dart is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: antelope, arrow, arrowhead, arrows.
- Useful contrasts: hulking, crawl, creep.
- Usage evidence: They dance in circles to communicate a short distance, and shake their bodies and dart back and forth to indicate a longer distance.
How to use "dart"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dart" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dart" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dart" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dart" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dart" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "antelope" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "dart", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the hand; for example, a short lance or javelin.
"Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak."
- 2 Acronym of disaster assistance response team. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 3 An officer trained at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, England. UK, slang
- 4 a sudden quick movement wordnet
- 5 Any sharp-pointed missile weapon, such as an arrow.
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 Disaster animal response team.
- 7 a tapered tuck made in dressmaking wordnet
- 8 Anything resembling such a missile; something that pierces or wounds like such a weapon. figuratively, sometimes
"The artful inquiry, whose venom′d dart / Scarce wounds the hearing while it stabs the heart."
- 9 Disaster area response team.
- 10 a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot wordnet
- 11 A small object with a pointed tip at one end and feathers at the other, which is thrown at a target in the game of darts.
- 12 Abbreviation of disaster assistance and rescue team. abbreviation, alt-of
- 13 A cigarette. Australia, Canada, colloquial
"2017, April 18, Craig Little, The Guardian, Hawthorn are not the only ones finding that things can get worse The Tigers will also face Jesse Hogan, still smarting from missing a couple of games but not life inside the AFL bubble, where you can’t even light up a dart at a music festival without someone filming it and sending it to the six o’clock news."
- 14 Disaster response team.
- 15 A dart-shaped target towed behind an aircraft to train shooters.
"Fighter aircraft also use restricted areas for target shooting at darts towed 1500 feet behind another aircraft."
- 16 A plan or scheme. Australia, obsolete
"Trucking′s my dart too."
- 17 A sudden or fast movement.
"Soon as I felt the floor tremor I made a dart for the door."
- 18 A fold that is stitched on a garment.
"Somehow she managed, with a cinched waist here and a few darts there, to look like a Hollywood star."
- 19 A dace (fish) (Leuciscus leuciscus).
- 20 Any of various species of hesperiid butterfly.
Verb
- 1 To throw with a sudden effort or thrust; to hurl or launch. transitive
- 2 move with sudden speed wordnet
- 3 To send forth suddenly or rapidly; to emit; to shoot. transitive
"As the sun darted forth his beams, she darted a meaningful glance at me."
- 4 move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart wordnet
- 5 To shoot with a dart, especially a tranquilizer dart. transitive
"They had to dart the animal to get close enough to help"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 run or move very quickly or hastily wordnet
- 7 To fly or pass swiftly, like a dart; to move rapidly in one direction; to shoot out quickly. intransitive
"The flying man darted eastward."
- 8 To start and run with speed; to shoot rapidly along. intransitive
"The deer darted from the thicket."
Proper Noun
- 1 Acronym of Dublin Area Rapid Transit. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 2 A river in Devon, England, which flows from Dartmoor to the English Channel at Dartmouth.
- 3 A surname from Middle English.
- 4 Acronym of Diversity arrays technology (“a genetic marker technique”). abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 5 Acronym of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Show 1 more definition
- 6 An unincorporated community in Washington County, Ohio, United States, said to be named for a bird flying like a dart.
Example
"They dance in circles to communicate a short distance, and shake their bodies and dart back and forth to indicate a longer distance."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dart"?
Common synonyms include: antelope, arrow, arrowhead, arrows, atlas, barb.
How do you use "dart" in a sentence?
They dance in circles to communicate a short distance, and shake their bodies and dart back and forth to indicate a longer distance.
How do you pronounce "dart"?
Pronounced /dɑːt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English dart, from Old French dart, dard (“dart”), from Medieval Latin dardus, from Frankish *darōþu (“dart, spear”), from Proto-Germanic *darōþuz (“dart, spear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerh₃- (“to leap, spring”). Compare Old High German tart (“javelin, dart”), Old English daroþ, dearod (“javelin, spear, dart”), Swedish dart (“dart, dagger”), Icelandic darraður, darr, dör (“dart, spear”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English darten, from the noun (see above).
Etymology 3
From Proto-Brythonic *dar (“oak”). Cognate to the Darent.
Etymology 4
Metonymic occupational surname for a maker of darts, from Middle English dart.