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# dab

verb (dab, dabs, dabbed, dabbing); noun (a dab, dabs); adjective (a dab hand — UK informal)

«dab» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (verb) To touch something lightly and quickly several times, often with a cloth or sponge: «dab your eyes». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m1)
2. (verb) To put on a small amount of something with light touches: «dab paint on the paper». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m2)
3. (noun) A small amount of something: «a dab of glue». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m3)
4. (noun) A light, quick touch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m4)
5. (noun, informal) A dance move where you drop your head into the bent arm while the other arm points out. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m5)
6. (UK informal) «a dab hand at» — very good at something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m6)
7. (noun) A small flat sea fish. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m7)
8. Dabs (UK slang, old) fingerprints. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#m8)

### In the lessons

In art lessons, children dab paint with sponges to make textures; in first aid, you dab a cut gently with a clean cloth, not rub it. In cooking, «a dab of butter». In the playground, «doing the dab» was a popular dance move. Phrases: «a dab of», «dab at», «dab on», «a dab hand at».

### Examples

- Dab the cut gently with a clean tissue. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x1)
- She dabbed her eyes with a hanky at the end of the film. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x2)
- Dab blue paint on with a sponge to make the sky. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x3)
- Put a dab of glue on each corner. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x4)
- Add a dab of butter to the hot potatoes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x5)
- The footballer did a dab to celebrate his goal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x6)
- Grandma is a dab hand at knitting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x7)
- We caught a little dab off the pier. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x8)
- Very funny the palace must have looked each morning, with the dabs of different colour on the white marble as the princes were climbing up the walls. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/#x9)

### Note

Regular verb with a doubled B: dabbed, dabbing. To dab is gentler than to rub or wipe. «Dab hand» is British, informal. «Dab» (fish) is a flatfish. Do not confuse «dab» with «dub» (to give a name, or to add voices to a film).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «dab» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«dab» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/dab.html) on Mova free.