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Webster 1913 Edition


Dab

Dab

(dăb)
,
Noun.
[Perh. corrupted fr.
adept
.]
A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert.
[Colloq.]
One excels at a plan or the titlepage, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a
dab
at an index.
Goldsmith.

Dab

,
Noun.
[Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf.
Dabchick
.]
(Zool.)
A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species,
Pleuronectes limanda
. The American rough dab is
Hippoglossoides platessoides
.

Dab

(dăb)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dabbed
(dăbd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dabbing
.]
[OE.
dabben
to strice; akin to OD.
dabben
to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble, and perh. to G.
tappen
to grope.]
1.
To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber.
A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by
dabbing
it over with fine lint.
S. Sharp.
2.
To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
“To dab him in the neck.”
Sir T. More.

Dab

,
Noun.
1.
A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.
A scratch of her claw, a
dab
of her beak.
Hawthorne.
2.
A small mass of anything soft or moist.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dab

DAB

, v.t.
1.
To strike gently with the hand; to slap; to box.
2.
To strike gently with some soft or moist substance; as, to dab a sore with lint.

DAB

, n.
1.
A gentle blow with the hand.
2.
A small lump or mass of any thing soft or moist.
3.
Something moist or slimy thrown on one.
4.
In law language, an expert man.[See Dabster.]
5.
A small flat fish, of the genus Pleuronectes, of a dark brown color.