n. [ Of uncertain origin: cf. Dan. balder noise, clatter, and E. dash; hence, perhaps, unmeaning noise, then hodgepodge, mixture; or W. baldorduss a prattling, baldordd, baldorddi, to prattle. ] 1. A worthless mixture, especially of liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

Indeed beer, by a mixture of wine, hath lost both name and nature, and is called balderdash. Taylor (Drink and Welcome). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Senseless jargon; ribaldry; nonsense; trash. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To mix or adulterate, as liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wine merchants of Nice brew and balderdash, and even
mix it with pigeon's dung and quicklime. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bedashed (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedashing. ] To wet by dashing or throwing water or other liquid upon; to bespatter. “Trees bedashed with rain.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of neckcloth. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A treatise against the cravat and berdash. Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dashed p. pr. & vb. n. Dashing. ] [ Of. Scand. origin; cf. Dan daske to beat, strike, Sw. & Icel. daska, Dan. & Sw. dask blow. ] 1. To throw with violence or haste; to cause to strike violently or hastily; -- often used with against. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you dash a stone against a stone in the botton of the water, it maketh a sound. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To break, as by throwing or by collision; to shatter; to crust; to frustrate; to ruin. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Ps. ii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

A brave vessel, . . .
Dashed all to pieces. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To perplex and dash
Maturest counsels. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To put to shame; to confound; to confuse; to abash; to depress. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dash the proud gamester in his gilded car. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To throw in or on in a rapid, careless manner; to mix, reduce, or adulterate, by throwing in something of an inferior quality; to overspread partially; to bespatter; to touch here and there; as, to dash wine with water; to dash paint upon a picture. [ 1913 Webster ]

I take care to dash the character with such particular circumstance as may prevent ill-natured applications. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very source and fount of day
Is dashed with wandering isles of night. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To form or sketch rapidly or carelessly; to execute rapidly, or with careless haste; -- with off; as, to dash off a review or sermon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To erase by a stroke; to strike out; knock out; -- with out; as, to dash out a word. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To rush with violence; to move impetuously; to strike violently; as, the waves dash upon rocks. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He ] dashed through thick and thin. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

On each hand the gushing waters play,
And down the rough cascade all dashing fall. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Violent striking together of two bodies; collision; crash. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sudden check; abashment; frustration; ruin; as, his hopes received a dash. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A slight admixture, infusion, or adulteration; a partial overspreading; as, wine with a dash of water; red with a dash of purple. [ 1913 Webster ]

Innocence when it has in it a dash of folly. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A rapid movement, esp. one of short duration; a quick stroke or blow; a sudden onset or rush; as, a bold dash at the enemy; a dash of rain. [ 1913 Webster ]

She takes upon her bravely at first dash. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Energy in style or action; animation; spirit. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A vain show; a blustering parade; a flourish; as, to make or cut a great dash. [ Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Punctuation) A mark or line [ -- ], in writing or printing, denoting a sudden break, stop, or transition in a sentence, or an abrupt change in its construction, a long or significant pause, or an unexpected or epigrammatic turn of sentiment. Dashes are also sometimes used instead of marks or parenthesis. John Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Mus.) (a) The sign of staccato, a small mark [ &unr_; ] denoting that the note over which it is placed is to be performed in a short, distinct manner. (b) The line drawn through a figure in the thorough bass, as a direction to raise the interval a semitone. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Racing) A short, spirited effort or trial of speed upon a race course; -- used in horse racing, when a single trial constitutes the race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A board placed on the fore part of a carriage, sleigh, or other vehicle, to intercept water, mud, or snow, thrown up by the heels of the horses; -- in England commonly called splashboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) (a) The float of a paddle wheel. (b) A screen at the bow af a steam launch to keep off the spray; -- called also sprayboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. an instrument panel beneath the front window of a motor vehicle (such as an automobile or truck), containing indicating gauges and dials, such as the speedometer and fuel gauges, and sometimes certain control knobs or other devices. [ PJC ]

n. 1. A tropical aroid (of the genus Caladium, syn. Colocasia) having an edible farinaceous root. It is related to the taro and to the tanier, but is much superior to it in quality and is as easily cooked as the potato. It is a staple food plant of the tropics, being prepared like potatoes, and has been introduced into the Southern United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. a herb of the Pacific islands grown throughout the tropics for its edible root and in temperate areas as an ornamental for its large glossy leaves.
Syn. -- taro, taro plant, dalo, Colocasia esculenta. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. the edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants.
Syn. -- taro, cocoyam, eddo. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. a tropical starchy tuberous root.
Syn. -- taro, taro root, cocoyam, edda. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. That which dashes or agitates; as, the dasher of a churn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dashboard or splashboard. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who makes an ostentatious parade. [ Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bold; spirited; showy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dashing and daring spirit is preferable to the listless. T. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Conspicuously; showily. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A dashingly dressed gentleman. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The character of making ostentatious or blustering parade or show. [ R. & Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He must fight a duel before his claim to . . . dashism can be universally allowed. V. Knox. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mach.) a mechanical damping device containing a piston that moves in a fluid-filled chamber to serve as a pneumatic or hydraulic cushion for a falling weight, as in the valve gear of a steam engine, to prevent shock. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ It consists of a chamber, containing air or a liquid, in which a piston (a), attached to the weight, falls freely until it enters a space (as below the openings, b) from which the air or liquid can escape but slowly (as through cock c), when its fall is gradually checked. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cataract of an engine is sometimes called a dashpot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Dash. ] Calculated to arrest attention; ostentatiously fashionable; showy. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Haberdasher. ] To deal in small wares. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To haberdash in earth's base ware. Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. fr. Icel. hapurtask trumpery, trifles, perh. through French. It is possibly akin to E. haversack, and to Icel. taska trunk, chest, pocket, G. tasche pocket, and the orig. sense was perh., peddler's wares. ] 1. A dealer in small wares, as tapes, pins, needles, and thread. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dealer in items of men's clothing, such as hats, gloves, neckties, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The haberdasher heapeth wealth by hats. Gascoigne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A dealer in drapery goods of various descriptions, as laces, silks, trimmings, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The goods and wares sold by a haberdasher; also (Fig.), trifles. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Interdashed p. pr. & vb. n. Interdashing. ] To dash between or among; to intersperse. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Slap + dash. ] 1. In a bold, careless manner; at random. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. With a slap; all at once; slap. [ Colloq. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To apply, or apply something to, in a hasty, careless, or rough manner; to roughcast; as, to slapdash mortar or paint on a wall, or to slapdash a wall. [ Colloq. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wearing spatterdashes. [ Colloq. ] Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Spatter + dash. ] Coverings for the legs, to protect them from water and mud; long gaiters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Uproar. Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]