Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Dab?

\Dab\ (d[a^]b), n. [Perh. corrupted fr. adept.] A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [Colloq.] One excels at a plan or the titlepage, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index. --Goldsmith.
\Dab\, n. [Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. {Dabchick}.] (Zo["o]l.) A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, {Pleuronectes limanda}. The American rough dab is {Hippoglossoides platessoides}.
\Dab\ (d[a^]b), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Dabbed} (d[a^]bd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Dabbing}.] [OE. dabben to strice; akin to OD. dabben to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble, and perh. to G. tappen to grope.] 1. To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber. A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it over with fine lint. --S. Sharp. 2. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. ``To dab him in the neck.'' --Sir T. More.
\Dab\, n. 1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck. A scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak. --Hawthorne. 2. A small mass of anything soft or moist.