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Synonyms

dab hand

British  

noun

  1. informal a person who is particularly skilled at something; expert

    a dab hand at chess

"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

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.

Mencken, who was a dab hand at writing with great verve about how much he hated just about everything.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2024

A French prime minister should be loyal, content at lingering in their boss’s shadow and a dab hand with the country’s mille-feuille bureaucracy.

From Reuters • Apr. 26, 2022

“He’s definitely a dab hand at the barbecue … I can safely say there’s never been a case of food poisoning in the family that’s attributed to the Duke of Edinburgh.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 18, 2021

Milne, who was a dab hand at the light essay and not merely the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh.

From Washington Post • Nov. 30, 2020

But Everett was well qualified: universally revered, and a dab hand at battlefields, he’d already played Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hill.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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