Dab \Dab\, n.

1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.

A scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak. --Hawthorne.

2. A small mass of anything soft or moist.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Dab \Dab\ (d[a^]b), n. [Perh. corrupted fr. adept.]

A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [Colloq.]

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Dab \Dab\, n. [Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. Dabchick.]

(Zo["o]l.) A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes limanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Dab \Dab\ (d[a^]b), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dabbed (d[a^]bd); 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.

A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it over with fine lint. --S. Sharp.

2. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. ``To dab him in the neck.'' --Sir T. More.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)