dart
Americannoun
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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:
One of them is typing furiously as his eyes dart from the screen to the robot: "The idea is it will grab that cylindrical piece and move it over there."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
That is pretty close to throwing a dart.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Young men, some barefoot, dart around in the sand under the guidance of a volunteer coach improvising drills amid the shouts.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
The young intern who shot us with a tranquilizer dart and then inserted that inexact analysis apologizes.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026
And when he’s moving at a trot to catch up, I make an unexpected dart through the front door of an apartment building.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
A darts challenge and a football tournament are also set to take place.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
There was table tennis, darts and computer games available at the team's luxury hotel, which overlooked Darling Harbour.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It was the scene where Ted plays the smug Rupert Mannion character in darts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 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
Terror darts through my heart, and the next thing I know, we’re running out of the graveyard, back across the street, and down the lane behind Morning Glory Cottage.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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
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
So when Bernarr — born Bernarr Ferebee Jr. — darted to the Grammy stage in February to accept his first award, for progressive R&B album for “Bloom,” the viral moment felt perfectly on brand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Last Tuesday, Olise darted infield from the right flank past a couple of players and curled a left-footed shot into the corner.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
With a mocking “Caw! Caw! Ahoooooooy!” it darted back the way it came.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
“Archer is like a mini-expressway,” said Alderwoman Julia Ramirez, describing cars and trucks darting in and out on the diagonal road before the changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Matt said the highlight of the experience would be the blue morpho butterfly from central America, "with iridescent blue wings, darting and flitting" around the space.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
The Meta boss appeared in a dark suit and gray tie, his signature chestnut curls slightly mussed, darting occasional nervous looks at the jury and the 20-year-old plaintiff, who sat in the courtroom gallery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
In January, he even sent a photographer stumbling on the red carpet after darting unexpectedly between his legs during a visit by Poland's president.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
The way her eyes keep darting to me.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
