How to use dab in a sentence
36 example sentences · verb, noun, adverb
Dab means to press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing. Example: “I dabbed my face with a towel.”
Examples of dab by meaning
verbTo press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
- I dabbed my face with a towel.
- Dab the tears from your eyes.
verbTo apply a substance in this way.
- The nurse will dab some ointment on that gash.
verbTo strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
- Breach hit a line, Zoe Harrison dabbed a kick in behind and Abby Dow chased like fury.2025 August 22, Mike Henson, “England open World Cup with 11-try win over USA”, in BBC Sport
verbTo perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body.
- Look, my bruddas don't dab, we just vossi bop2019, Stormzy, “Vossi Bop”
nounA soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
- Then the minute feet made feeble dabs, or stabs, at the atmosphere; the tiny fists doubled themselves and wandered to and fro as if in search of the enemy.1917, Robert Hichens, In the Wilderness
nounA soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.
- She gave a few more dabs to his buttocks.2006, Greta X, Angela Pearson, Whipsdom, page 75
- The men gave each other dabs and another bear hug.2010, Adrianne Byrd, Body Heat, page 177
- I step closer to Profit and draw in a deep, steadying breath while the brothers exchange dabs.2010, De'nesha Diamond, Hustlin' Divas, page 197
nounA small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.
- a dab of glue
nounFingerprint.
- One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom.2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 132
More sentences with dab
- A dab of chewing gum will fix your note to the bulletin board.From the entry fix
- You have to torch up the knife blade to dab this hash oil.From the entry torch up
- She's a dab hand in the kitchen.From the entry dab hand
- He melted a glue stick with a cigarette lighter and dabbed it onto his project with a toothpick.From the entry glue stick
- The macho-ish option: For lashings of pampering, mixed with a dab of grizzle, try Argentina.2012 February 9, “Trips of a lifetime”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2025. From the entry macho-ish
- “Racism is still an ugly thing in this country,” he says, dabbing at a tiny bloodspot.2008 February 17, Donald Ray Pollock, “Ink Before You Vote”, in New York Times. From the entry bloodspot
- You wrap them around a little mound of it and dab the blin with sour cream.1995 May 11, Linda Burum, “Markets: Eastern Europe Meets West Hollywood”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times…. From the entry blin
- She was still dabbing at her pantleg with a damp paper towel.1979, Rhea Kohan, Save Me a Seat, →ISBN, page 25. From the entry sissy
- But I waited while he dabbed at the cut with styptic powder.1959, Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon. From the entry styptic
- Below, a Sunday painter dabs at a canvas near the Pont Neuf, his suit as natty as any Landru wore.2010 December 15, Peter Everett, Matisse's War, Random House, →ISBN. From the entry Sunday
- Mommy and Daddy, who flew in for the bris, were so touched, they kept dabbing their eyes and coughing.1993, Miriam Rose, Miriam Zakon, “The Baker Family Circus”, in Baker's Dozen, volume 4, Omnibus, page 129. From the entry bris
- She dabbed a French fried potato in a glob of catsup, but stopped midway, placing it on her plate again.1988, Paula Williams, Lovesong, Pageant Books, →ISBN, page 146. From the entry french fried potato
- A dab of rotkohl would not have harmed her cheeks.1956, William Sansom, A Contest of Ladies. From the entry Rotkohl
- You could open his collected works almost anywhere and shut your eyes and dab down your finger on some red-hot passage.1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 4, in Three Men and a Maid. From the entry proposal
- While swimming, the Sea Pigeon nervously ducks its head at frequent intervals, appearing to be dabbing at the water.1905, Charles Wendell Townsend, The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts, page 83. From the entry sea pigeon
- Desert dabs of red and ochre, alternating with a maizy gold and the blue-green of eucalyptus, take you immediately into the dazzling land.2021 June 13, Laura Cumming, “Of dreaming and nightmares”, in The New Review (The Observer), page 30. From the entry maizy
- There were days when I literally didn't feel a dab and there are some days where two rimmers get me higher than a regular dab.2017 January 20, u/ExtremeOG, “Smoking isn't a competition. Everybody has different tastes, tolerances, preferences, etc., so why does it…. From the entry rimmer
- The Dromi Tsang House (kro me chong) is located in the region of Dabpa (,dab pa), in the village of Sumdu (gsum 'du, chin.2017, Peter Herrle, “Dromi Tsang House in Dabpa”, in Tibetan Houses: Vernacular Architecture of the Himalayas and Environs, →ISBN, →OCLC…. From the entry Jinzhu
- Analyzing the Gospel through a first century management lens takes management from the sidelines and puts it smack dab in the middle of the highway.2013, B. Dyck, Management and the Gospel. From the entry choresome
- But she dabbed at an eye, cried out for a touchup and had someone turn up Grace Jones on the MP3 player.2009 February 1, Dakota Lane, “Elaine Griffin and Michael McGarry”, in New York Times. From the entry touchup
- “I love to be backstage and in the background,” she said as she slicked a dab of pomade into the model’s backswept hair.2009 February 19, Ruth La Ferla, “Sculpturing Strands”, in New York Times. From the entry backswept
- Place the opihi on their backs on a baking tray and put a small dab of garlic butter on each of their bellies.1986, Cruising World, volume 12, number 1, page 74. From the entry opihi
- The fishes in your imagination were flesh pink, medium sized like dab, and the loaves were white like altar breads, only fatter and spongier.1976, Edna O'Brien, chapter 3, in Mother Ireland, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, page 66. From the entry sanded
- I'm home from school with barely enough time to foof my hair, brush my teeth, and dab on a little extra mascara before the front doorbell rings.2011, Marley Gibson, The Discovery, page 20. From the entry foof
- Through the open door Clement sees the girls in the shady shelter shed drinking daintily from the bubble taps and dabbing at their mouths with their crumpled white hankies.2008, Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row. From the entry bubble tap
Meaning of dab
- verb To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
- verb To apply a substance in this way.
- verb To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
Questions about dab in a sentence
- How do you use dab in a sentence?
- Dab is used as a verb, noun and adverb. For example: “I dabbed my face with a towel.”
- What is a short sentence with dab?
- “a dab of glue”
- What does dab mean?
- Dab means to press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dab (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use dab in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dab. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
