How to use dabble in a sentence

19 example sentences · verb, noun

Dabble means to make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble. Example: “The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.”

Examples of dabble by meaning

verbTo cause splashing by moving a body part like a bill or limb in soft mud, water, etc., often playfully; to play in...

The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.

verbTo feed without diving, by submerging the head and neck underwater to seek food, often also tipping up the tail...

When a duck dabbles its bill in mud, it is using the lamellae (transverse plates) on the inner edges of its bill as a highly efficient filter.2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, “Mallard”, in International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, volumes 11 (LEO–MAR), Tarrytown, N.Y....

verbTo participate or have an interest in an activity in a casual or superficial way.

She’s an actress by trade, but has been known to dabble in poetry.
As a parish priest in England he had dabbled in the black arts, seduced a number of his congregation from their faith and finally celebrated the Black Mass.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 30
In the process, he dabbled in technical innovations such as 3-D and VistaVision, experimened in special effects and editing techniques, and developed an extensive repertoire of original camera setups and shots.1995, Paula Marantz Cohen, “Introduction”, in Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism, Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky...

nounA spattering or sprinkling of a liquid.

Then I saw dabbles of milk all over the floor and tiny rabbit-droppings in the saucers.a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[Nature and Poetical Pieces.] Adolf.”, in Edward D[avid] McDonald, editor, Phoenix...
The lighting in the corridor just dabbles of arcs, afterthoughts, smears.2007, Constantine Sult, chapter 1, in The Murder of Linen, [United States]: Brown Paper Publishing, page 1

More sentences with dabble

To my horror I perceived that the yellow blossoms were all dabbled with crimson.1904 January 30, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Priory School”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure…. From the entry crimson
When Mussolini was a young chap, he dabbled with socialism, imagining it to be an open sesame to a better society.2001 September 24, Gareth McLean, “Sympathy for a devil”, in The Guardian. From the entry open sesame
While most Super Mario Maker Let’s Players dabble between creating levels and playing through them, WitWix focuses on conquering creations made by other players.2016, Vikki Blake, Wesley Copeland, Jason Fanelli, Barry Keating, Carrie Mok, Dominic Reseigh-Lincoln, John Robertson, Edward Smith…. From the entry Let's Player
I’m no expert, but I dabble.2009, Benjamin Obler, Javascotia, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN. From the entry SLR
It is intent to deceive or to dabble in malicious mischief that sets a sock puppeteer apart from a legitimate user with multiple accounts.2005 December 21, Shelley Powers, "Yo! Sock Puppets!" on Burningbird.net. From the entry sock puppeteer
A chorus girl who dabbles in smuggling falls in with a pharmacist who is fleeing a charge of murder after he misfills a prescription.1992, Gerald Martin Bordman, American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, page 256256. From the entry misfill
He did some work for the New York Public Library . . . and also dabbled in eleemosynary science for the Russell Sage Foundation.1918, Christopher Morley, “Owd Bob”, in Mince Pie. From the entry eleemosynary
What emerges from this can’t-look-away start is also a funny and devastating queer love story that dabbles in “quincest” (a term used to describe Tegan and Sara fan fiction!).2021 September 10, Katie Yee, “7 new story collections to fall into this season.”, in Literary Hub. From the entry Quincest
And this is the man who once warned “the world is literally about to blow up.” So you’re not dealing with someone who likes to dabble with grey areas.2016, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Encryption”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 5, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros.…. From the entry nuance
They sped under the moonlight as silent as a shadow, visible only to cats and to people who dabbled in things men were not meant to wot of.1988, Terry Pratchett, Mort, Corgi, published 1988, page 91. From the entry wot
If KMBC wants to dabble, as Craft has charged, with "reverse panda" circles of makeup around her eyes to hide what it sees as her bags, it can.1983 July 31, “TV News: Cosmetic Casualty”, in Miami Herald. From the entry reverse panda
They want their money’s worth; so unless you have a real gift department and have bought during the year from reputable gift manufacturers, it is unwise to dabble in gifts.1934 June 30, Thelma Browne Ziemer, “Hints for the Summer-Resort Bookshop”, in The Publishers’ Weekly: The American Book Trade Journal…. From the entry bookshopkeeper

Meaning of dabble

verb To make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble.
verb To cause splashing by moving a body part like a bill or limb in soft mud, water, etc., often playfully; to play in shallow water; to paddle.
verb To feed without diving, by submerging the head and neck underwater to seek food, often also tipping up the tail straight upwards above the water.

Full definition of dabble

Questions about dabble in a sentence

How do you use dabble in a sentence?: Dabble is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.”
What is a short sentence with dabble?: “I’m no expert, but I dabble.”
What does dabble mean?: Dabble means to make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble.

Adapted from Wiktionary: dabble (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use dabble in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dabble. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.