dab

1. 1.

   apply (usually a liquid) to a surface

   “dab the wall with paint”

   Synonymsswabswob

   Broaderput on
2. 2.

   hit lightly

   “pat him on the shoulder”

   Synonymspat

   Broaderstrike

Other forms of dab

plural

dabs·

past tense or participle

dabbed

present participle

dabbing

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about dab

What does dab mean?

dab means "a light touch or stroke". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in dab?

dab has 1 syllable: dab. In IPA it is /ˈdæb/.

What is another word for dab?

Close synonyms include tap, pat, splash, splatter, swab. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is dab a common word?

dab is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.