daub

[ dawb ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud:

   to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.

2. to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something:

   to daub plaster on a brick wall.

3. to smear, soil, or defile.
4. to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.

verb (used without object)

1. to daub something.
2. to paint unskillfully.

noun

1. material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
2. something daubed on.
3. an act of daubing.
4. a crude, inartistic painting.

daub

/ dɔːb /

verb

1. tr to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly
2. tr to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly
3. to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly

noun

1. an unskilful or crude painting
2. See wattle and daub
   something daubed on, esp as a wall covering See also wattle and daub
3. a smear (of paint, mud, etc)
4. the act of daubing

Derived Forms

• ˈdauber, noun
• ˈdauby, adjective

Other Words From

• dauber noun
• daubing·ly adverb
• dauby adjective
• un·daubed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of daub¹

1275–1325; (v.) Middle English dauben < Anglo-French, Old French dauber to whiten, paint < Latin dealbāre, equivalent to de-, prevocalic variant of dē- de- + albāre to whiten, derivative of albus white; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.

Word History and Origins

Origin of daub¹

C14: from Old French dauber to paint, whitewash, from Latin dealbāre, from albāre to whiten, from albus white

Example Sentences

Five field-seconds perfected by fog, duffel snuggled against melike a child, the wash of creamy daubs against green,then gone.

From MIT Technology Review

His parents daub it with anti-bacterial cream, hoping to prevent infection.

From The Daily Beast

That she is, but Daub took the phone call to Hill at face value.

From The Daily Beast

After law school, she joined Daub full-time, working as his legislative assistant on issues like health care and Social Security.

From The Daily Beast

Very little of the earlier buildings remained, as they all appear to have been built of wood and wattle-and-daub.

From Project Gutenberg

As for "wattle and daub" I could wish that it had never been invented.

From Project Gutenberg

A painter was made to paint a ring of blood around the neck and daub the clothes with red.

From Project Gutenberg

There are good prints provided cheap, to hang in the place of the ancient sampler or daub.

From Project Gutenberg

They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until it be perfectly black.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dab
• deface
• smear
• smudge
• spatter