Dab (?), 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 therd is a dab at an index.
Goldsmith.
© Webster 1913.
Dab, n. [Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. Dabchick.] Zool.
A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes imanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides.
© Webster 1913.
Dab (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Dabbed (?); 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.
© Webster 1913.
Dab (?), n.
1.
A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.
Astratch of her clame, a dab of her beack.
Hawthorne.
2.
A small mass of anything soft or moist.
© Webster 1913.