# stab

> English word · Noun · IPA /stæb/ · frequency rank #9,965

## Definitions
1. An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object.
2. A wound made by stabbing.
3. Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.
4. An attempt.
5. Criticism.
6. A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.
7. A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire.

## Etymology
First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe.
Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.

## Easily confused with
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-sub)
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-std)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-str)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-sts)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stu)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-sti)
- **STM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stm)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stp)
- **sth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-sth)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stop)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-star)
- **stem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stem)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stan)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stir)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stat)
- **swap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-swap)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-swan)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-stud)
- **sway** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stab-vs-sway)

## Common misspellings (6)
`satb`, `sstab`, `stabb`, `stba`, `sttab`, `tsab`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stab