dab

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈdab 

plural dabs

1

: a gentle touch or stroke : pat

A moment of silence, a dab at the eye, a painful swallow before the roar of applause.

—Masha Leon

2

: something that is dabbed on : daub, smear

… spots of bright-pink wild cyclamen … like the paint dabs on a pointillist's canvas.

—Vogue

3

: a small amount

The flat shell should be prized off and the oysters eaten raw, with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dab of horseradish if you like.

—Nancy Jenkins

A dab of mousse works in seconds "shaping" a style in the time it takes a woman to run her fingers through her hair.

—Shari Miller Sims

4

slang

a

: a concentrated extract of cannabis that is prepared by treating cannabis with a solvent (such as butane) and is used by heating the concentrate on a hot surface (as of metal or glass) and inhaling the vapors

Note: Dab occurs in several forms including a resinous sticky oil, a crumbly wax, or a brittle solid.

Marijuana potency is described in terms of the percentage of THC. Most marijuana has about 10 to 15 percent THC. Dab has a THC of 80 to 90 percent.

—Chuck Biedka

Dab is a product made by using butane (a highly flammable gas used in camping fuel canisters and cigarette lighters) to extract the concentrated cannabis oil from plants …

—Jeff Linville

b

: a single dose of dab

Nothing like a joint, a dab is a small dose of highly concentrated cannabis heated on a hot surface and then inhaled.

—Amy Hansen

The last thing he would remember in the morning was taking a shot of spiced rum and a dab of marijuana.

—Gavin Butler

5

: a dance move originating in hip-hop that is performed by bending one arm at the elbow, dropping the head so that the face is near the crook of that arm, and usually extending the other arm so that it is parallel with the forearm of the bent arm

He does the dab, a dance move that looks like he's sneezing into his elbow.

—Jessica Contrera

During Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign, she learned to do the dab—a dance that Migos made popular …

—Sheldon Pearce

As Newton appears to show in his coaching tips, there's more to the dab. The quarterback has Bailey make sure to lean into the move, ducking his head down while sharply raising his front arm and jutting his back arm backward.

—Nick O'Malley

6

archaic : a sudden blow or thrust : poke

see also dab hand, smack-dab

dab

2 of 5

verb

dabbed; dabbing; dabs

transitive verb

1

: to strike or touch lightly : pat

Her eyes watered occasionally, and she was forced to dab them with a tissue.

—John Grisham

2

: to apply lightly or irregularly : daub

In the past, restoring a frescoed wall involved little more than covering the cracks and dabbing fresh paint on the surface in an attempt to recapture some of its original color.

—George Armstrong

Dab or spray the scent on your … wrist.

—Harper's Bazaar

3

slang : to inhale the vapors of (a heated concentrate of cannabis)

More than half of students who use marijuana reported that they dab marijuana to get high.

—Rachel O'Bryan

In 2015, 28 percent of Colorado high-schoolers who admitted to consuming marijuana within the past month said that they had also dabbed it, according to the CDPHE [Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment].

—Thomas Mitchell

intransitive verb

1

: to touch or pat something lightly

The Doctor paused to remove his glasses and dab at his eyes with a handkerchief.

—T. Coraghessan Boyle

2

slang : to inhale the vapors of a heated concentrate of cannabis : to take a dab (see dab entry 1 sense 4b)

And if you have ever dabbed …, or even just smoked some weed that was profoundly stronger than your usual stuff, that short list of symptoms probably sounds familiar.

—Meagan Angus

In Wisconsin, health officials are still investigating increasing reports of people with severe lung disease who say they've recently vaped or "dabbed," which involves inhaling marijuana products.

—Michael Nedelman

3

: to perform a dab (see dab entry 1 sense 5) or a series of dabs (as while dancing or in celebration)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made the move famous last year after he starting dabbing as his touchdown celebration.

—Meg Anderson

Migos joined Corden for a little Carpool Karaoke on Tuesday, where the late-night host offered his sincere condolences on behalf of uncool dads everywhere for driving their dance move into the ground. Then he immediately dabbed to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

—Halle Kiefer

dabber noun

plural dabbers

dabbing noun

plural dabbings

The brush work is a furious battle ground—there are … fierce, smudgy dabbings of brute colour …

—Michael Glover

… an opportunity for cannabis companies to promote their concentrates and dabbing aficionados to enjoy a day on the couch.

—Veronica Irwin

Dabbing, a dance move which some say looks like sneezing, originated from hip-hop …

—Aarushi Ahuja

dab

3 of 5

noun (2)

: flatfish

especially : any of several flounders (genus Limanda, especially L. limanda) compare sand dab

dab

4 of 5

noun (3)

chiefly British

: a skillful person

DAB

5 of 5

abbreviation

Dictionary of American Biography

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• dig
• jab
• lunge
• poke

Noun (3)

• ace
• adept
• artist
• authority
• cognoscente
• connoisseur
• crackerjack
• crackajack
• dab hand [chiefly British]
• expert
• fiend
• geek
• guru
• hand
• hotshot
• maestro
• master
• maven
• mavin
• meister
• past master
• proficient
• scholar
• shark
• sharp
• virtuoso
• whiz
• wizard

Examples of dab in a Sentence

Noun (1)

one more quick dab of the brush and he would be finished with his painting

she added a dab of sesame oil to the dressing before pouring it on the salad

a bear can knock a man down with a simple dab of his paw

Noun (3)

a dab at finding unappreciated collectibles and reselling them at a considerable profit

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Mina helps Ray clean a big old dab of sauce from the corner of his mouth. —Andy Andersen, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025

Apply a dab of ketchup, then rinse away after about three minutes. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 21 Apr. 2025

Verb

Rinse Rinse the area by dabbing the fabric with a cloth dipped in clean water to remove soap residue. —Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 May 2025

This multi-purpose balm is capable of many, many things: mix it with lipstick to turn mattes into moisturizing balms, slick it through unruly brows to tame strays, dab it on red patches for a soothing moisture hit, or condition lashes from root to tip. —Annie Blackman, Allure, 5 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English dabbe

Noun (2)

Anglo-French dabbe

Noun (3)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 6

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1691, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing dab

• dab hand
• sand dab
• smack-dab

Rhymes for dab

• ab
• cab
• crab
• drab
• fab
• gab
• grab
• jab
• lab
• mab
• nab
• rab

Kids Definition

dab

1 of 3 noun

ˈdab 

1

: a quick blow or thrust : poke

2

: a gentle touch or stroke : pat

dab

2 of 3 verb

dabbed; dabbing

1

: to strike or touch lightly

dabs at her eyes with a handkerchief

2

: to apply with quick light strokes : daub

dabber noun

dab

3 of 3 noun

1

: smear entry 1 sense 1, daub

2

: a small amount

just a dab more ice cream