dab
/dæb/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.32 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body.
Intransitive verb
verb
Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)
Example Sentences
- "I dabbed my face with a towel."
- "Dab the tears from your eyes."
- "The nurse will dab some ointment on that gash."
- "1532-1533, Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer to dabbe him in the necke"
- "Breach hit a line, Zoe Harrison dabbed a kick in behind and Abby Dow chased like fury."
- "Look, my bruddas don't dab, we just vossi bop"
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: dabben, -, dabbe
Usage
- Transitive verb
- Slang
- Intransitive verb
- British usage
- Dated
- Obsolete
- American usage
Inflected Forms
dabs (present, singular)
dabbing (participle, present)
dabbed (participle, past)
dabbed (past)
dabs (plural)
more dab (comparative)
most dab (superlative)