dab
verb (used with object)
to pat or tap gently, as with something soft or moist.
dab
1 American
[dab]
/ dæb /
verb (used with object)
-
dabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dabbed,
past participle, past
-
dabbing
present participle
-
to pat or tap gently, as with something soft or moist.
The child dabbed his eyes with the handkerchief.
-
to apply (a substance) by light strokes.
He dabbed the ointment on the rash.
-
to strike, especially lightly, as with the hand.
-
to consume (cannabis) by inhaling the vapor of heated cannabis extract oil.
-
Masonry. to dress (stonework) with a pointed tool.
-
Western U.S. to throw (a rope or line) in an effort to lasso or catch something.
Joe dabbed his rope on the steer.
verb (used without object)
-
dabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dabbed,
past participle, past
-
dabbing
present participle
-
to strike lightly; make a dab; pat.
She dabbed at the stain on her dress.
-
to consume cannabis by inhaling the vapor of heated cannabis extract oil.
She dabs for a more intense high.
noun
-
a quick or light blow; a pat, as with the hand or something soft.
-
a small moist lump or mass.
a dab of butter.
-
a small quantity.
a dab of powder.
-
a dose of cannabis extract oil.
-
a dance move that involves posing with one’s nose in the crook of a bent elbow at chest level while extending the other arm to the side at or above shoulder level, often performed as a celebratory posture in sports or other competitions.
dab
2
American
[dab]
/ dæb /
noun
dab
3
American
[dab]
/ dæb /
noun
-
Also called dab hand. a person skilled in something; an expert.
-
an excellent or extraordinary person or thing.
adjective
DAB
4
American
dab
1
British
/ dæb /
verb
-
to touch lightly and quickly
-
(tr) to daub with short tapping strokes
to dab the wall with paint
-
(tr) to apply (paint, cream, etc) with short tapping strokes
noun
-
a small amount, esp of something soft or moist
a dab of ink
-
a small light stroke or tap, as with the hand
-
(often plural) a slang word for fingerprint
dab
2
British
/ dæb /
noun
-
a small common European brown flatfish, Limanda limanda, covered with rough toothed scales: family Pleuronectidae: a food fish
-
(often plural) any of various other small flatfish, esp flounders Compare sand dab
-
Also called: patiki. a sand flounder, Rhombosolea plebia , common around New Zealand's South Island
DAB
3
British
abbreviation
dab
4
British
/ dæb /
noun
Usage
What else does dab mean? In slang, dab can be a highly concentrated marijuana extract, a type of hip-hop dance, or touching the ground with your foot while you ride a bicycle. Doing any of these actions is called dabbing, and yes, you could feasibly do all three at once—not that we recommend it.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dabsimple
-
dabssimple
-
have dabbedperfect
-
has dabbedperfect
-
am dabbingprogressive
-
are dabbingprogressive
-
is dabbingprogressive
-
have been dabbingperfect progressive
-
has been dabbingperfect progressive
Past
-
dabbedsimple
-
had dabbedperfect
-
was dabbingprogressive
-
were dabbingprogressive
-
had been dabbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dab1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb dabben “to strike, hit,” of uncertain origin; compare Old Icelandic dabba “to strike, tap,” Norwegian dabbe “to shuffle along, walk slowly,” Middle Dutch dabben “to pinch, knead,” German tappen “to feel along, grope”
Origin of dab2
First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps special use of dab 1
Origin of dab3
First recorded in 1685–95; of uncertain origin
Explanation
A dab is a quick, soft application of something, like paint or makeup. You might touch up a clown's makeup with several dabs on his cheeks and forehead. A dab is the motion with which you pat or apply something to a surface, and it's also the tiny amount of material you're applying. An artist might work in dabs of paint, and a baker might lick a dab of cake batter off her finger. Dab is a verb too: "Dab this aloe on your sunburn — it'll feel much better." A dab is a "light, striking movement," from the earlier dabben, "to strike."
Vocabulary lists containing dab
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:
“We don’t want to live in fear, so we make ourselves useful working for organizations that move the scale away from fear and put us smack dab in the middle of love.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2025
He passed Ponting with a trademark dab through point.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025
We’re smack dab in the middle of 2010 again.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2025
Her son gently tries to dab it away with a tissue as a nurse comes by with a blood pressure stand.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025
Her tam did, in fact, from Zooey’s vantage point, appear not unlike a dab of paint.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
They will be the first full BBC stations to be launched on the digital DAB network since 1Xtra, 6Music and the Asian Network in 2002.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2024
Finally, the existing Radio 1 Dance station, currently available as a stream on BBC Sounds, will launch on DAB with new and enhanced content.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2024
Mehrabi and his co-chair, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, a former DAB governor and former finance minister, told Reuters that they would consider the findings once they are available.
From Reuters ● Jul. 21, 2023
Ambassador to Switzerland Scott Miller, Anwar Ahady, a former Afghan central bank chief and former finance minister, and Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who remains on the DAB Supreme Council.
From Reuters ● Nov. 21, 2022
To DAB, DAUB, v. a. to peck, as birds do with their bills.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Alexander Leighton
Sand dabs and halibut, still edible and plentiful there, were held in a net slung under the hull and served moments later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
Iron-straight defence, dabs to third man and shuffles off the hips.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025
Martha Stewart doesn't do warts, but Cutler edits a wry irony into the artful coverage she dabs on her blemishes, like her refusal to count her marital infidelity as equivalent to that of her husband.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2024
His voice was firm, doling out dabs of sweetness cut with the occasional thrilling yelp.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
The man did it in long strokes and in dabs.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Root dabbed, cut and guided to the third man fence.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
In the rear open kitchen, Manon Fleury turned humble winter produce into memorable dishes: Fried sweet-potato threads mimicked a mini funnel cake, dabbed with loquat jam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Afterwards Nawat appeared at a press conference wearing a tuxedo and openly weeping as he theatrically dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief, claiming he had been "betrayed".
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025
Unencumbered by her own directorial scheme, Elliott leans into the freedom of musical storytelling, a mode in which realism is dabbed on rather than studiously applied.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2024
By now Baby Max had turned red as, well, a beet, and Svetlana hurriedly took off several of his many layers of clothing and dabbed cool water on his face.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
We see through her eyes an assistant dabbing moisturizer on her hand, art installers asking where she wants a large sculpture, a man cleaning her pool who greets her.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
Inside, women are dabbing moisturizers, sampling eye shadows and swabbing lipsticks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
"You have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have," she said, dabbing away tears and occasionally pausing to collect herself.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
When she’s asked to imagine her life after “Hacks,” Einbinder’s face suddenly turns pink, a folded tissue appears, and she’s dabbing away tears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025
We moved on through the line and joined the others squatting in the lee of half-raised walls, dabbing courteously at what was, for almost everyone there, an inedible concoction.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
