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dashing

[dash-ing]
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adjective
  1. energetic and spirited; lively: a dashing hero.
  2. elegant and gallant in appearance and manner: a dashing young cavalry officer.
  3. showy; stylish.
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Origin of dashing

First recorded in 1800–05; dash1 + -ing2
Related formsdash·ing·ly, adverb

dash1

[dash]
verb (used with object)
  1. to strike or smash violently, especially so as to break to pieces: He dashed the plate into smithereens against the wall.
  2. to throw or thrust violently or suddenly: to dash one stone against another.
  3. to splash, often violently; bespatter (with water, mud, etc.): He recovered consciousness when they dashed water in his face.
  4. to apply roughly, as by splashing: to dash paint here and there on the wall.
  5. to mix or adulterate by adding another substance: to dash wine with water.
  6. to ruin or frustrate (hopes, plans, etc.): The rain dashed our hopes for a picnic.
  7. to depress; dispirit: The failure dashed his spirits.
  8. to confound or abash: His rejection dashed and humiliated him.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to strike with violence: The waves dashed against the cliff.
  2. to move with violence; rush: The horses dashed out of the burning stable.
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noun
  1. a small quantity of anything thrown into or mixed with something else: a dash of salt.
  2. a hasty or sudden movement; a rush or sudden onset: They all made a dash for the door.
  3. the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.
  4. the throwing or splashing of liquid against something: the dash of the waves against the dock.
  5. the sound of such splashing: The dash of the waves on the beach could be heard from afar.
  6. spirited action; élan; vigor in action or style: The dancer performed with spirit and dash.
  7. Track. a short race: a 100-yard dash.
  8. dashboard(def 1).
  9. Telegraphy. a signal of longer duration than a dot, used in groups of dots, dashes, and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.
  10. a hasty stroke, especially of a pen.
  11. Archaic. a violent and rapid blow or stroke.
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Verb Phrases
  1. dash off,
    1. to hurry away; leave: I must dash off now.
    2. Also dash down.to write, make, accomplish, etc., hastily: We dashed off a letter to announce the news. He dashed down a memo.
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Idioms
  1. cut a dash, to make a striking impression; be ostentatious or showy.
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Origin of dash1

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English dasshen, perhaps < Old Norse; compare Danish daske slap, flap, Swedish daska; (noun) Middle English: blow, clash, derivative of the v.

Synonyms

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10. dart, bolt. See rush1. 11. pinch, bit; touch.

dash2

[dash]
verb (used with object) Chiefly British.
  1. to damn (usually used as an interjection).
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Origin of dash2

1790–1800; euphemism based on d—n, printed form of damn

dash3

[dash](in West Africa)
noun
  1. a tip, bribe, or recompense.
  2. bribery.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to give a tip or bribe to (especially a government employee).
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Origin of dash3

1780–1790; perhaps first recorded in Dutch as dache, dasche (1602); origin uncertain, but often alleged to be < Portuguese das (you) give (2nd singular present indicative of dar to give)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

fearless, debonair, stylish, dapper, plucky, swashbuckling, swish, daring, rousing, dazzling, alert, spirited, keen, swank, animated, smart, adventurous, chic, elegant, exclusive

Examples from the Web for dashing

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They talked of books, of music—Christine played well in a dashing way.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • Nothing was before him, save the foaming, dashing, measureless ocean.

    The Three Golden Apples

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • This dashing young Barnacle, in a word, was likely to become a statesman, and to make a figure.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • "You'd frighten them away, if you did," said Mrs. Jenkins, dashing some water into the teapot.

    The Channings

    Mrs. Henry Wood

  • Dashing his one-eyed glasses on the table, he attacked the man.

    The Channings

    Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for dashing

dashing

adjective
  1. spirited; livelya dashing young man
  2. stylish; showya dashing hat
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Derived Formsdashingly, adverb

dash1

verb (mainly tr)
  1. to hurl; crashhe dashed the cup to the floor; the waves dashed against the rocks
  2. to mixwhite paint dashed with blue
  3. (intr) to move hastily or recklessly; rushhe dashed to her rescue
  4. (usually foll by off or down) to write (down) or finish (off) hastily
  5. to destroy; frustratehis hopes were dashed
  6. to daunt (someone); cast down; discouragehe was dashed by her refusal
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noun
  1. a sudden quick movement; dart
  2. a small admixturecoffee with a dash of cream
  3. a violent stroke or blow
  4. the sound of splashing or smashingthe dash of the waves
  5. panache; stylehe rides with dash
  6. cut a dash See cut (def. 33)
  7. the punctuation mark —, used singly in place of a colon, esp to indicate a sudden change of subject or grammatical anacoluthon, or in pairs to enclose a parenthetical remark
  8. the symbol (–) used, in combination with the symbol dot (·), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codesCompare dah
  9. athletics another word (esp US and Canadian) for sprint
  10. informal short for dashboard
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Word Origin

Middle English dasche, dasse

dash2

interjection
  1. informal a euphemistic word for damn (def. 1), damn (def. 2)
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dash3

noun
  1. a gift, commission, tip, or bribe
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verb
  1. to give (a dash) to someone
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Word Origin

C16: perhaps from Fanti
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 dashing

adj.

1801, "given to cutting a dash" (1786), which was a colloquial expression for "acting brilliantly," from dash (n.) in the sense of "showy appearance," which is attested from 1715. The sense of "splashing" is recorded from mid-15c.

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dash

n.

late 14c., from dash (v.). Sporting sense is from 1881, originally "race run in one heat."

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dash

v.

c.1300, probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Swedish daska, Danish daske "to beat, strike"), somehow imitative. The oldest sense is that in dash to pieces and dashed hopes. Intransitive meaning "move quickly" appeared c.1300, that of "to write hurriedly" is 1726. Related: Dashed; dashing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
dashing in Culture

dash

A punctuation mark (—) used to indicate a sudden break in thought, to set off parenthetical material, or to take the place of such expressions as that is and namely: “He's running for reelection — if he lives until then”; “Very few people in this class — three, to be exact — have completed their projects”; “She joined the chorus for only one reason — she loves to sing.” In the last example, where the parenthetical material comes at the end of the sentence rather than in the middle, a colon could be used instead of the dash.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.