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PlainSpell

dab

/dæb/verb, noun, adverb

dab is spelled D-A-B: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, dab means “To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in dab?

Letters3: D-A-B
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dab?

Dab appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dab?

  • /dæb/

Dab has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dab.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with dab?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as dab.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: bad, abd, dba.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dab

  • dabs present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • dabbing participle, present
  • dabbed participle, past
  • more dab comparative
  • most dab superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dab mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.

    I dabbed my face with a towel.

  2. 2

    To apply a substance in this way.

    The nurse will dab some ointment on that gash.

  3. 3

    To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.

  4. 4

    slangTo apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.

  5. 5

    To perform the dab dance move; to move both arms, parallel with one's head, to either side of the body.

  6. 6

    Synonym of daub (to mark a bingo card)

noun

  1. 1

    A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.

  2. 2

    A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.

  3. 3

    A small amount, a blob of some soft or wet substance.

    a dab of glue

  4. 4

    slangA small amount of hash oil.

  5. 5

    UKdatedFingerprint.

  6. 6

    A hip hop dance move in which the dancer simultaneously drops the head while raising an arm, briefly resting their face in the elbow, as if sneezing into their elbow.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA dabbler.

  8. 8

    One who is skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.

  9. 9

    A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.

  10. 10

    USA sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.

adverb

  1. 1

    With a dab, or sudden contact.

noun

as DAB
  1. 1

    Initialism of digital audio broadcasting.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteBad.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dab in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtapoter, tamponner (softly tap), dabber (perform the dance move)
Germantupfen (softly tap), auftupfen (apply softly tapping), Taps (soft tap), Klacks, Klecks (small amount, blob)
Portuguesetocar de leve (softly tap), aplicar de leve (apply softly tapping)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dab come from?

From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba (“to tap, slap”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Compare also with Middle Dutch dabben (“to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble”) (Dutch dabben (“(of a horse) to stamp with the forelegs”)), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), possibly German tappen (“to fumble, grope”). The noun is from Middle English dabbe (“a strike, blow”), from the verb. Related to tap. Compare also drub, dub. African-American sense of “playful box” perhaps influenced by dap (“fistbump”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dab