dabs

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

1. A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
   • I promise you nothing,' said the dolls' dressmaker, dabbing two dabs at him with her needle, as if she put out both his eyes.1865, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend

   Synonyms:

   bump, pat, spat, tit

2. (African-American Vernacular) A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
   • She gave a few more dabs to his buttocks. “There. By the time you've made love to me those weals will have dried up.”2006, Greta X, Angela Pearson, Whipsdom, page 75
3. A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
   • a dab of glue

   Synonyms:

   blob, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb

   1. (slang) A small amount of hash oil.
4. (UK, dated, in plural) Fingerprint.
   • One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom.2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 132
5. A hip hop dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm, briefly resting their face in the elbow, as if sneezing into their elbow.

See all 18 meanings of dab