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  1. dabble love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To splash or spatter with or as if with a liquid: "The moon hung over the harbor dabbling the waves with gold” ( Katherine Mansfield).
  2. v. To splash liquid gently and playfully.
  3. v. To undertake something superficially or without serious intent: "The restaurant business entails more than . . . dabbling in interior design” ( Andy Birsh).
  4. v. To bob forward and under in shallow water so as to feed off the bottom.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To dip a little and often; hence, to wet; moisten; spatter; sprinkle.
  2. To play in water, as with the hands; splash or play, as in water.
  3. To do anything in a slight or superficial manner; touch or try here and there; dip into anything: with in: as, to dabble in railway shares; to dabble in literature.
  4. To tamper; meddle.

Wiktionary

  1. v. transitive To partially wet (something) by splashing or dipping; connotes playfulness.
  2. v. intransitive To participate or have an interest in, but not so seriously.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To wet by little dips or strokes; to spatter; to sprinkle; to moisten; to wet.
  2. v. To play in water, as with the hands; to paddle or splash in mud or water.
  3. v. To work in slight or superficial manner; to do in a small way; to tamper; to meddle.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. work with in an amateurish manner
  2. v. bob forward and under so as to feed off the bottom of a body of water
  3. v. dip a foot or hand briefly into a liquid
  4. v. play in or as if in water, as of small children

Etymologies

  1. From dab (Wiktionary)
  2. Possibly from Dutch dabbelen, frequentative of dabben, to strike, tap. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (6)

Words with the same meaning

  1. spatter
  1. sprinkle
  1. moisten
  1. wet
  1. tamper
  1. meddle

hypernyms (9)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. busy
  1. occupy
  1. Bob
  1. dunk
  1. dip
  1. douse
  1. souse
  1. plunge
  1. play

rhymes (10)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Babel
  2. Schnabel
  1. Scrabble
  2. babble
  1. babel
  2. drabble
  1. psychobabble
  2. rabble
  1. rabel
  2. scrabble

reverse dictionary (13)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. dabble
  2. delibate
  1. bedabble
  2. plouter
  1. smatter
  2. paddle
  1. dip
  2. puddle
  1. quaffer
  2. slatch
  1. muddle
  2. plash
  1. splash

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. butterfly

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Lists

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Comments

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  • Jubjub Hmm... I'm sorry. Not sure what I was thinking-- there was supposed to be a pun in there, which, now, totally escapes me. I guess my comment was a prime example of halfassed dumbassery. Dec 20, 2009

  • ruzuzu Yes, yes, a balance of informative and concise... but what I find endearing is that they can also be funny in a knowing and slightly naughty way. Dec 20, 2009

  • grantbarrett How do you mean "half-assed"? In my opinion, AHD etymologies are some of the best in the business, given that many have been done from scratch, they tend to include the Indo-European root, and they balance informativeness and conciseness in consideration for the limited space on the printed page. Dec 20, 2009

  • ruzuzu Have you read the American Heritage Dictionary's Word History for butterfly? It's pretty funny--it begins with this question: "Is a butterfly named for the color of its excrement or because it was thought to steal butter?" Dec 20, 2009

  • Jubjub Anyone notice that American Heritage half-asses their etymologies? It's like a task they really don't want to do. Dec 20, 2009

  • strev I like to dabble in solids. Jun 14, 2009

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‘dabble’ has been looked up 2776 times, loved by 4 people, added to 42 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 11.