dab1
/dab
/verb (dabs, dabbing, dabbed) [with object]
1Press against (something) lightly several times with a piece of absorbent material in order to clean or dry it or to apply a substance: he dabbed his mouth with his napkin [no object]: she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief...
- She lightly dabbed her bleeding forehead and winced, the pain shooting through her entire head like a sudden bolt of lightning.
- He dabbed the cut lightly with another paper towel before working on the band-aid.
- I took my napkin and gently dabbed it at my mouth, hoping that I hadn't spurted out coffee in my surprise.
Synonyms
pat, press, touch, blot, mop, swab, smudge;
spread, daub, bedaub, apply, wipe, stroke, stipple
1.1Apply (a substance) with light quick strokes: she dabbed disinfectant on the cut...
- The sample - usually blood or cells from inside the cheek - is dabbed on to a stain card and returned to the lab in a tamperproof bag.
- To fragrance your kitchen cabinets and drawers, place a good scent dabbed on a cotton ball into an inconspicuous comer.
- They were black specks in the distance, nothing more than what looked to be dots of blotched ink dabbed on to the bright, clear blue sky.
2 dialect Strike with a light blow.
noun
1A small amount of something: she licked a dab of chocolate from her finger...
- Working in random, one-inch sections, take a dab of pliable pomade, and coat and twist hair as you go.
- Not only does a dab of toner refresh the skin, it helps to remove any cleanser that hasn't been properly removed.
- Well, I don't use make up daily, just kohl to line my eyes, and a dab of lipstick.
Synonyms
drop, dash, spot, smear, dribble, trickle, splash, sprinkle, speck, taste, lick, trace, touch, hint, suggestion, soupçon, particle, bit, modicum;
little
informal smidgen, tad
1.1A brief application of a piece of absorbent material to a surface: apply concealer with light dabs...
- Writing between dabs on the forehead with a wet washcloth, she speaks of an ‘inchoate longing’ to visit paradise.
- With every stroke and dab and curve of the brush she was losing a little bit of herself.
- Because Impressionist painters had to work quickly, oil paint was usually put on the canvas in small dabs or short strokes, often with little color mixing.
Synonyms
pat, press, touch, blot, mop, wipe, smudge, smear
2 (dabs) British informal Fingerprints: the catalogue is being dusted for your dabs...
- Campaigners are concerned that thousands of schools have used their money to buy fingerprint scanners to get kids' dabs at registration, at the library counter, and at the canteen checkout.
- The dabs are used to identify pupils in computerised class registers or library systems.
- I would presume that if they found my dabs at the scene of a crime they could match them with the details they acquired at immigration.
Origin
Middle English: symbolic of a light striking movement; compare with dabble and dib.
Rhymes
dab2
/dab/noun
A small, commercially important flatfish found chiefly in the North Atlantic.
- Limanda and other genera, family Pleuronectidae (several species, in particular the European L. limanda).
- The most common are dragonets, topknots, dabs, plaice and, if you're lucky, the occasional anglerfish and thornback ray.
- These are always the prime spots for bass, dabs and plaice.
Origin
Late Middle English: of unknown origin.
DAB3
abbreviation
Digital audio broadcasting.