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dart

[dahrt]
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noun
  1. a small, slender missile that is pointed at one end and usually feathered at the other and is propelled by hand, as in the game of darts, or by a blowgun when used as a weapon.
  2. something similar in function to such a missile, as the stinging member of an insect.
  3. darts, (used with a singular verb) a game in which darts are thrown at a target usually marked with concentric circles divided into segments and with a bull's-eye in the center.
  4. an act of darting; a sudden swift movement.
  5. a tapered seam of fabric for adjusting the fit of a garment.
verb (used without object)
  1. to move swiftly; spring or start suddenly and run swiftly: A mouse darted out of the closet and ran across the room.
verb (used with object)
  1. to thrust or move suddenly or rapidly: He darted his eyes around the room.

Origin of dart

1275–1325; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Old Low Franconian; compare Old English daroth, Old High German tart, Old Norse darrathr spear, lance
Related formsdart·ing·ly, adverbdart·ing·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. arrow, barb. 6. dash, bolt, shoot.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for darting

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They were other firecraft; he saw them darting in and down from all sides.

    The Hammer of Thor

    Charles Willard Diffin

  • People were darting here and there, in ordinary clothes, or in all sorts of makeups.

    The Film of Fear

    Arnold Fredericks

  • He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.

    Cap'n Warren's Wards

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • Sime made a darting grasp for her wrist and wrung the weapon from her.

    The Martian Cabal

    Roman Frederick Starzl

  • She rose swiftly to her feet, darting fearful glances on all sides.

    A Set of Six

    Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for darting

dart1

noun
  1. a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot, as in the game of darts
  2. a sudden quick movement
  3. zoology a slender pointed structure, as in snails for aiding copulation or in nematodes for penetrating the host's tissues
  4. a tapered tuck made in dressmaking
verb
  1. to move or throw swiftly and suddenly; shootshe darted across the room
See also darts
Derived Formsdarting, adjectivedartingly, adverb

Word Origin

C14: from Old French, of Germanic origin; related to Old English daroth spear, Old High German tart dart

dart2

noun
  1. any of various tropical and semitropical marine fish

Word Origin

from Middle English darce, from Late Latin dardus, dart, javelin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for darting

dart

v.

late 14c., "to pierce with a dart," from dart (n.). Meaning "to move like a dart" is attested from 1610s. Related: Darted; darter; darting.

dart

n.

early 14c., from Old French dart "throwing spear, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *darothuz cf. Old English daroð, Old High German tart, Old Norse darraþr "dart"). Italian and Spanish dardo are said to be from Germanic by way of Old Provençal.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper