dab

a. Capable of being done. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Dabbed p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbing. ] [ OE. dabben to strice; akin to OD. dabben to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble, and perh. to G. tappen to grope. ] 1. To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber. [ 1913 Webster ]

A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it over with fine lint. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. “To dab him in the neck.” Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. corrupted fr. adept. ] A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One excels at a plan or the titlepage, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. Dabchick. ] (Zool.) A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes limanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck. [ 1913 Webster ]

A scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small mass of anything soft or moist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A large, spine-tailed lizard (Uromastix spinipes), found in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine; -- called also dhobb, and dhubb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That with which one dabs; hence, a pad or other device used by printers, engravers, etc., as for dabbing type or engraved plates with ink. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To play in water, as with the hands; to paddle or splash in mud or water. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where the duck dabbles 'mid the rustling sedge. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To work in slight or superficial manner; to do in a small way; to tamper; to meddle. “Dabbling here and there with the text.” Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

During the first year at Dumfries, Burns for the first time began to dabble in politics. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dabbled p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbling ] [ Freq. of dab: cf. OD. dabbelen. ] To wet by little dips or strokes; to spatter; to sprinkle; to moisten; to wet. “Bright hair dabbled in blood.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who dabbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who dips slightly into anything; a superficial meddler. “our dabblers in politics.” Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]