Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use dash in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, interjection

Dash means any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar). Example: “When the feds came they did the dash.”

Examples of dash by meaning

nounA short run, flight.

  • When the feds came they did the dash.

nounA small quantity of a liquid substance etc.; less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

  • Add a dash of vinegar.

nounA slight admixture.

  • There is a dash of craziness in his personality.

nounOstentatious vigor.

  • Aren't we full of dash this morning?

nounA bribe or gratuity; a gift.

  • The traditional practice of offering gifts or "dash" to chiefs has often been misinterpreted by scholars to provide a cultural explanation for the pervasive incidence of bribery and corruption in modern Africa.1992, George Billy Nii Ayittey, Africa Betrayed, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 44
  • The only other times you'll be asked for a dash is from beggars.2008, Lizzie Williams, updated by Mark Shenley, Nigeria: The Bradt Travel Guide, published 2012, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 109

nounThe dashboard of a social media user.

  • -i hope you find at least one thing on your dash that will make you laugh today.2018, anonymous, quoted in Mélanie Bourdaa, "'May We Meet Again': Social Bonds, Activities, and Identities in the #Clexa Fandom", in A...
  • i cannot tell you how happy it makes me when i see my dash filled with selfies from other folks who look like me.2018, "notthesameknowledge", quoted in Randall Lake, Recovering Argument, unnumbered page
  • “You wanna know what else is all over my dash?2018, Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie, Alphas Like Us, unnumbered page

verbTo run quickly or for a short distance.

  • He dashed across the field.
  • As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 670

verbTo leave or depart.

  • I have to dash now. See you soon.

More sentences with dash

  • The best malt whiskies are improved if they are cut with a dash of water.From the entry cut
  • Bravo Six, this is Bravo Six Four. Stand by for ten mike report one dash three, over.From the entry over
  • I have to dash off to the store, but I'll be back soon.From the entry dash off
  • I'm not looking for a long-term relationship: I'm okay with an occasional smash and dash.From the entry smash and dash
  • Insert here a one-em dash or long dash.From the entry em
  • Let me dash off a quick note.From the entry dash off
  • The actress carried off a difficult performance with dash.From the entry carry off
  • Her upbringing had been so chaste that her first experience French kissing ended in a panicked dash to the Piggly Wiggly to buy a home pregnancy test, just in case.From the entry chaste
  • But now we have to dash on to a new chapter, to explain two very important things.Roddy Doyle, Rover and the Big Fat Baby, 2019. From the entry dash on
  • If the ball was out of play, someone in blue would dash to get it back.2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London). From the entry lick one's wounds
  • “I can’t promise that I won’t dash outside during the storm, though,” I said.2015, A. Destiny, Elizabeth Lenhard, Our Song (Flirt), Simon Pulse, →ISBN, page 152. From the entry toothpicky
  • To understand the Gothabilly style, take the aforementioned descriptions and add a dash of darkness.2007, Raven Digitalis, Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 27. From the entry gothabilly
  • Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it.2006, Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn, Black Swan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 81. From the entry Alex
  • Starting July 1, Kansas motorists who repeatedly gas and dash could lose their driver's licenses.2000 June 23, “Gas-and-dash thefts rise with high fuel prices”, in Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, US: Associated Press. From the entry gas and dash
  • Do the millennia and the centimillennia dash between us and this dream?1997, Carleton Bulkin, transl., Hidden History, Twisted Spoon Press, translation of Skryté dějiny by Otokar Březina, →ISBN, page 132. From the entry centimillennium
  • It was a thunderstormy morning, eleven o'clock, with great dashes of rain pounding against the windows.1973, Jane Roberts, The education of Oversoul Seven, page 8. From the entry eleven
  • The great script swooped and spated; then broke off, baulkingly, with a scatter of dashes and curves.1934, Susan Miles [pen name; Ursula Wyllie Roberts], Blind Men Crossing a Bridge, Frederick A. Stokes Company, page 585. From the entry baulkingly
  • I made a dash for it when the district office passed your news on.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London. From the entry make a dash for it
  • An expert collar-crinkler, for instance, might lack the dash necessary in the shirt-ripping room.1927 March 23, Punch, or The London Charivari, volume 172, published June 1927, page 309. From the entry crinkler
  • The serious end of tech has never made the dash from northern to southern California that is forever in the offing.2025 June 21, Janan Ganesh, “How Los Angeles made the modern world”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times…. From the entry in the offing
  • News that Sunak could make a U-turn dash to Egypt having learned that Johnson may go looks panicky.2022 November 1, Polly Toynbee, “Rishi Sunak’s only been in office for a few days – and the errors are already piling up”, in The Guardian. From the entry panicky
  • I most enjoyed the rajas, highlighted by perfectly smoky poblano slices with melty oaxaca cheese and a dash of sea salt.2019 January 17, Timothy Malcolm, “Our Latest Obsession: The Costras at La Vibra”, in Houstonia Magazine. From the entry oaxaca
  • Dash ‘way the coke dem and go sensi dem.2018, “Help The Weak”performed by Capleton and Sizzla. From the entry sensi
  • Slowly, he peeped from behind his hiding place just in time to see a black-and-white furry object dash behind a salipenter.2015 October 28, Rohan Singh, chapter 1, in Adventures of Suliman and the Sandopie, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN. From the entry salipenter
  • Splashing in white dashes on the boating lake.2014 November 18, John Swinfield, Knock Down Ginger, eBook Partnership, →ISBN. From the entry teem
  • Break the task down into 25-minute dashes (pomodoros).2014, Graham Allcott, A Practical Guide to Productivity. From the entry pomodoro
  • A quick dash back to the bed.2003, Elizabeth George, “I, Richard”, in I, Richard, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 196. From the entry tonguely
  • I clicked my seat belt and braced against the dash as Woolsey made a U-ey and gunned it up Clarkson.2003, Kathy Reichs, Bare Bones, →ISBN, page 316. From the entry U-ey

Meaning of dash

  1. noun Any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).
  2. noun A hyphen or minus sign.
  3. noun The longer of the two symbols of Morse code.

Full definition of dash

Questions about dash in a sentence

How do you use dash in a sentence?
Dash is used as a noun, verb and interjection. For example: “When the feds came they did the dash.”
What is a short sentence with dash?
“Add a dash of vinegar.”
What does dash mean?
Dash means any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dash (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 dash in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dash. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.