Definition of "dab" [dab]

• To apply with short poking strokes: dabbed some paint on the worn spots. (verb-transitive)
• To cover lightly with or as if with a moist substance. (verb-transitive)
• To strike or hit lightly. (verb-transitive)
• To tap gently; pat. (verb-intransitive)
• A small amount: a dab of jelly. (noun)
• To touch lightly and quickly (verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• To daub with short tapping strokes (verb)
• To apply (paint, cream, etc) with short tapping strokes (verb)
• A small amount, esp of something soft or moist (noun)
• A small light stroke or tap, as with the hand (noun)

www.Collinsdictionary.com (c) HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2016

• "But from about the seventeenth century until the 1930s, we were called dab hands."
• "(There is also S. 1033 "For a Safe and Secure America" blogged here March 28 under the title "Senate Bill 1033, Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" and an earlier blog entry on this same bill, March 26, "Immigration Conflagration") But here is a dab from the sponsoring Congressman's website:"
• "Goeing up that same river we meet 2 french that weare fishing a kind of fish called dab, which is excellent, & have done us great kindnesse, having left no more provision then what we needed much."