English: dab

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to dab
Participle: dabbed
Gerund: dabbing

Cognates

-

Indicative

Subjunctive

Conditional

Imperative

you	dab
we	Let's dab
you	dab

Indicative

Conditional

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to administer a physical blow

bang, baste, batter, beat, belabor, blow, boom-boom, buffet, butt, dash, dowse, fetch one a blow, flap, give toco, hammer, hit, kick, knock, lunge, pat, patter, pelt, pink, poke, pound, pummel, punch, rap, slam, slap, strike, swap, tap, thrash, thump, thwack, whack, whip, yerk

pat

tap, daub, smear, blot, peck

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. c.1307, "heavy blow with a weapon," from dabben "to strike," perhaps imitative. Modern sense of "strike with a slight, quick pressure" developed by 1592, infl. by Fr. dauber (see daub). Dab hand is British slang, 1828, from dab "expert" (1691), said to be school slang, of unknown origin.
2. From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba (“to tap, slap”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Compare also with Middle Dutch dabben (“to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble”) (Dutch dabben (“(of a horse) to stamp with the forelegs”)), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), possibly German tappen (“to fumble, grope”).
3. The noun is from Middle English dabbe (“a strike, blow”), from the verb. Related to tap. Compare also drub, dub.
4. African-American sense of “playful box” perhaps influenced by dap (“fistbump”). See: Middle English 'dabben', Icelandic 'dabba', Dutch 'dabben', Dutch 'deppen', German, old spelling 'tappen'.

Verbs referencing "dab"

Swedish, all forms dabba, Dutch deppen, Dutch dabben, German, old spelling dabben, Esperanto dabi.

Sample Sentences