daub

American  

[dawb] / dɔb /

verb (used with object)

1. to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud.

   to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.

2. to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something.

   to daub plaster on a brick wall.

3. to smear, soil, or defile.

4. to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.

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verb (used without object)

1. to daub something.

2. to paint unskillfully.

noun

1. material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.

2. something daubed on.

3. an act of daubing.

4. a crude, inartistic painting.

daub British  

/ dɔːb /

verb

1. (tr) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly

2. (tr) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly

3. to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly

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noun

1. an unskilful or crude painting

2. something daubed on, esp as a wall covering See also wattle and daub

3. a smear (of paint, mud, etc)

4. the act of daubing

Other Word Forms

• dauber noun
• daubingly adverb
• dauby adjective
• undaubed adjective

Etymology

Origin of daub

1275–1325; (v.) Middle English dauben < Anglo-French, Old French dauber to whiten, paint < Latin dealbāre, equivalent to de-, prevocalic variant of dē- de- + albāre to whiten, derivative of albus white; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.

Example Sentences

Martine Letterie, one of the campaign's organisers, said concentration camps were increasingly the target of vandalism, including far-right imagery daubed on sites.

From Barron's

“Yes, sisters and brothers, the old schoolhouse, the first schoolhouse – the log schoolhouse, with its stick chimbley daubed with clay.”

From Literature

Then Torak saw that on the brown forehead, a shaky circle had been daubed in red ochre.

From Literature

Mottled green daubs represent grass; lounging amoebic growths stand in for rocks, perhaps mountain peaks.

From The Wall Street Journal

Taking her phone from her pocket she shows me pictures of the black and white IS flag, newly daubed on one of the walls of the camp.

From BBC

Related Words

• dab
• deface
• smear
• smudge
• spatter