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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Dab

Dăb, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. DABBED; p. pr. & vb. n. DABBING.] [Cf. Eng. dap, dip, tap, tip; O. D. dabben, Ger. dappen, tappen, tippen, dupfen, tapfen, tüpfen.]

Sense 1. To strike gently, as with a soft or moist substance.

A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it with fine lint. Sharp.

Sense 2. To strike gently with the hand; to slap.

St. Paul himself confesseth, that for a medicine preservative against pride there was given to him . . . the prick of the flesh to dab him in the neck. Sir T. More.

Dăb, n.

noun

n. [See supra. Possibly corrupted from adept, q. v.]

Sense 1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; hence, a sudden blow or hit.

Sense 2. A small lump or mass of any thing soft, with which something is dabbed.

Sense 3. One who can dab skillfully; a skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [Colloq.]

One excels at a plan or title-page, another works away at the body of a book, and a third is a dab at an index. Goldsmith.

Sense 4. (Ichth.) A small, flat fish, allied to the flounder, of a dark-brown color; Platessa Limander. Baird.

An engraved illustration of a dab, a flat-bodied fish.
Dab.