dart
Americannoun
-
darts
plural
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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.
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something similar in function to such a missile, as the stinging member of an insect.
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(used with a singular verb) darts, 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.
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an act of darting; a sudden swift movement.
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a tapered seam of fabric for adjusting the fit of a garment.
verb (used without object)
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darts,
present (3rd person singular)
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darted,
past participle, past
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darting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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darts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
darted,
past participle, past
-
darting
present participle
noun
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a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot, as in the game of darts
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a sudden quick movement
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zoology a slender pointed structure, as in snails for aiding copulation or in nematodes for penetrating the host's tissues
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a tapered tuck made in dressmaking
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dartsimple
-
dartssimple
-
have dartedperfect
-
has dartedperfect
-
am dartingprogressive
-
are dartingprogressive
-
is dartingprogressive
-
have been dartingperfect progressive
-
has been dartingperfect progressive
Past
-
dartedsimple
-
had dartedperfect
-
was dartingprogressive
-
were dartingprogressive
-
had been dartingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
A dart is a tiny missile with a pointy end that can be a weapon or part of a game, like those pointy things that people throw at dartboards. If a person darts, it just means she’s moving quickly. A dart can be thrown or fired by blowing through a contraption, like when people who study big animals shoot a tranquilizer dart at a lion so they can put it to sleep without getting close. Darts can be weapons or part of a game often found in bars. Just as a dart moves quickly, a person can dart if they move quickly. Bees tend to dart around in the air. In football, a quick running back darts to avoid defenders
Vocabulary lists containing dart
"On the Menu" and "Find the Adaptations"
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Let's Race!
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"I Hear America Singing," "I, Too," "Where Is My Country?" "Legal Alien," and "Human Family"
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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:
"Football!" the children respond in unison as they dart between tents and ambulances in a pharmacy parking lot.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
The young intern who shot us with a tranquilizer dart and then inserted that inexact analysis apologizes.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026
After a missed match dart by Van Veen, the pair exchanged a frosty handshake and the Dutchman said Littler "was out of order" at what he perceived to be a celebration at the miss.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Or any other major victory on which your dart might land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Ma and Grandpa dart watchful eyes between me and Father.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
There was table tennis, darts and computer games available at the team's luxury hotel, which overlooked Darling Harbour.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Ted acts as if he knows little about the game; Rupert fails to ask anything beyond, “Do you like darts, Ted?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
It was the scene where Ted plays the smug Rupert Mannion character in darts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Darts champion Luke Littler is to front a new Netflix series that will see him play against everyday darts players.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
If I throw twenty darts at a target and manage to hit the bull’s-eye eighteen times, the next time I throw twenty darts, I probably won’t do as well.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Gibson-Park darted through the gold shirts to score after Keenan produced a superb try-saving tackle to deny the rampaging Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii a certain try.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The next inning, the Rays’ Ben Williamson hit a two-out single to Tucker in right field, and Tampa’s Jonathan Aranda darted around third toward home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
LAS VEGAS—The front desk agent at the Flamingo hotel was nearly finished checking me in when he darted away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
This past Fourth of July, three Elk Grove drones darted across the city to record video of illegal fireworks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Her eyes darted around, as if she were worried someone might be eavesdropping.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Others believe the best solution is darting the horses with birth control, a method used elsewhere in the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The “underwater city” of a barrier reef bustles with activity, with vibrantly patterned fish darting busily between corals and sea sponges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The team filmed fish darting between gorgonian whip coral, and jelly-like orange sea sponges near black coral.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
Isaac Del Toro took the overall lead at the UAE Tour after darting clear to earn his second stage victory of the week atop the Jebel Hafeet mountain on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
I just stand there, my eyes darting between them, until thankfully the secretary shoos them away.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
