daub
Americanverb (used with object)
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daubs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
daubed,
past participle, past
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daubing
present participle
-
to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud.
to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.
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to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something.
to daub plaster on a brick wall.
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to smear, soil, or defile.
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to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.
verb (used without object)
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daubs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
daubed,
past participle, past
-
daubing
present participle
-
to daub something.
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to paint unskillfully.
noun
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material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
-
something daubed on.
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an act of daubing.
-
a crude, inartistic painting.
verb
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(tr) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly
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(tr) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly
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to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly
noun
-
an unskilful or crude painting
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something daubed on, esp as a wall covering See also wattle and daub
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a smear (of paint, mud, etc)
-
the act of daubing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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daubsimple
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daubssimple
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have daubedperfect
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has daubedperfect
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am daubingprogressive
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are daubingprogressive
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is daubingprogressive
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have been daubingperfect progressive
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has been daubingperfect progressive
Past
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daubedsimple
-
had daubedperfect
-
was daubingprogressive
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were daubingprogressive
-
had been daubingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Explanation
Whenever you smear something on a surface, you are daubing. Abstract Expressionists may have been able to daub a canvas with paint and sell it for millions, but you probably wouldn’t be so lucky. Daub can be used as a verb or as a noun, and is derived from the Old French debaur which comes from the Latin dealbare “to whiten.” It is also used to describe the process of covering a surface with an adhesive substance such as plaster, mud or grease. However, in its noun form, it means a smear of something. When you are ordering "a bagel with a smear," you could impress the guy at the deli by asking for "a daub" instead.
Vocabulary lists containing daub
Stroke of Genius: Words About Painting
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The Odyssey
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"Daedalus and Icarus"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Each death is a daub of paint on a vast canvas, but for the bereaved, each opens up a gaping chasm of grief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
They're checking that their daub of Harry Kane, envisaged to occupy an entire wall, is complete.
From BBC ● May 28, 2023
Celebrants daub each other with vividly colored powders.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
Pour some coffee and daub a toasted muffin with planetary jam: It’s breakfast with the planets.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 26, 2022
It is a warm winter day, as warm as a spring day in England, and around the fort, men are outside, working on everything from repairing wattle and daub walls to shucking corn.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
They are generally pleasant if bland landscapes, rendered in small, precise daubs of thick paint, and they begin to appear by the mid-1870s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
That incident aside, the only minor troubles Cathala can remember from his 28 years as an elected official are a few “very rare” trash fires and occasional daubs of graffiti.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
Amid all this are tepid daubs of period detail: fluttering lace curtains, torn crinolines, crackling fires.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2022
The algorithm-driven daubs of pastel color, although they never cohere into legible images, “explore the heritage of landscape painting,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2022
In spite of their ready answers, the sport had been one-sided, as Kit could see by the daubs of mud that stained the rough boards of the stocks.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Its walls were daubed with red-lettered graffiti insulting French police and signed with the date of the riots, 17 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
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 ● Mar. 19, 2026
On the front steps, insults daubed in spray paint were directed at both Mayor Karen Bass and President Trump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2025
As well as paint being daubed on the stone, wreaths and flowers laid at the site had also been strewn about, the force said.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2025
Manet tore a piece of bread in half and daubed butter onto it.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
The series famously concluded with Jimmy Corkhill, played by the late Dean Sullivan, daubing a "d" on to the sign, leaving it as "Brookside Closed" before driving out of the cul-de-sac.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
After an initiation ritual that involves daubing blood on the screen of her laptop, she contributes videos to a growing body of lore purporting to document the game’s sinister consequences.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2022
Bright paintings adorn many buildings in the neigbourhood and workers are busy daubing steps and stone walls in cheerful hues of yellow and orange.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2021
In the Republic of Ireland police are investigating the daubing of black paint on a monument to Christopher Columbus in Galway - a gift from the city of Genoa.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 10, 2020
I wasn’t sure how he was going to get his boots back on, even after daubing the worst of the blisters with a paste made of baking soda.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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