dab

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To apply with short poking strokes: dabbed some paint on the worn spots.
2. v. To cover lightly with or as if with a moist substance.
3. v. To strike or hit lightly.
4. v. To tap gently; pat.
5. n. A small amount: a dab of jelly.
6. n. A quick light pat.
7. n. Any of various flatfishes, chiefly of the genera Limanda and Hippoglossoides, related to and resembling the flounders.
8. n. Chiefly British A dab hand.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To strike.
2. To strike gently with the hand; slap softly; pat.
3. To pat or tap gently with some soft or moist substance; specifically, in etching, china-painting, etc., to pat or rub gently with a dabber, so as to diffuse or spread evenly a groundwork of color, etc.; smear.
4. To strike with a pointed or sharp weapon; prick; stab.
5. To dibble.
6. To deceive.
7. In stone-working, to pick holes in with a pointed tool; fret.
8. To prick.
9. To peck, as birds.
10. To use a dabber.
11. To fall down loosely.
12. n. A quick or sudden blow.
13. n. A gentle blow or pat with the hand or some soft substance.
14. n. A dig; a peck, as from the beak of a bird.
15. n. A first or imperfect impression on the metal in making a die.
16. n. A small lump or mass of something soft or moist; a small quantity: as, a dab of mortar; a dab of butter.
17. n. A trifle; a slight, insignificant thing or person: in contempt.
18. n. plural Refuse foots of sugar.
19. n. A pinafore.
20. n. The salt-water flounder or fluke, Limanda limanda. The teeth are compressed and truncated, and the lateral line is simple and arched above the pectoral; the dorsal has 70 to 76 rays and the anal 52 to 57; the color is brownish, sometimes relieved by yellowish spots. The dab is a common fish on the sandy parts of the British coast, living in deeper water than the true flounder, and not entering the mouths of rivers. It seldom exceeds 12 inches in length, and is preferred to the flounder for the table.
21. n. An expert; a knowing or skilful man; a dabster.
22. Clever; skilled: as, a dab hand at a thing.
23. With a dab; without hesitation; vigorously.

Wiktionary

1. v. To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
2. v. to apply a substance in this way.
3. n. A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow; dial. a box, a slap.
4. n. A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
5. n. (mostly plural) fingerprint
6. n. One skilful or proficient, an expert, an adept.
7. n. A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda； flounder.
8. adv. With a dab, or sudden contact.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert.
2. n. A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes limanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides.
3. v. To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber.
4. v. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
5. n. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.
6. n. A small mass of anything soft or moist.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. apply (usually a liquid) to a surface
2. n. a light touch or stroke
3. v. hit lightly
4. n. a small quantity of something moist or liquid