daub

[ dawb ]

/ dɔb /

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See synonyms for: daub / daubed / dauber on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud: to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.

to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something: to daub plaster on a brick wall.

to smear, soil, or defile.

to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.

verb (used without object)

to daub something.

to paint unskillfully.

noun

material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.

something daubed on.

an act of daubing.

a crude, inartistic painting.

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Origin of daub

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.

OTHER WORDS FROM daub

dauber, noundaub·ing·ly, adverbdauby, adjectiveun·daubed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use daub in a sentence

When Cyrus Glover was informed that his daughter intended to marry a dauber in paints, he started for Paris on ten hours' notice.
Murder in Any Degree|Owen Johnson
A dancing-girl, who had not much to do, deigned to grant the little Flemish dauber, the favor of sitting for her portrait.
The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852|Various
At the same time, another variety of wasp, the pipe-organ mud dauber, was building nests only of nonradioactive mud.
Atoms, Nature, and Man|Neal O. Hines
This little white spider I found in the nest of a mud dauber wasp.
Book of Monsters|David Fairchild and Marian Hubbard (Bell) Fairchild

Is it possible that after my training of you, you can be in love with this showy fellow, a dauber of no name or talent?
Artist and Model|Ren de Pont-Jest

British Dictionary definitions for daub

daub

/ (dɔːb) /

verb

(tr) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly

(tr) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly

to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly

noun

an unskilful or crude painting

something daubed on, esp as a wall coveringSee also wattle and daub

a smear (of paint, mud, etc)

the act of daubing

Derived forms of daub

dauber, noundauby, adjective

Word Origin for daub

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

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

daub

Origin of daub

OTHER WORDS FROM daub

Words related to daub

How to use daub in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for daub

Derived forms of daub

Word Origin for daub