different between nab vs dab

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næb/
• Rhymes: -æb

Etymology 1

From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”).

Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian nappe (“to pluck”).

Alternative forms

• knab

Verb

nab (third-person singular simple present nabs, present participle nabbing, simple past and past participle nabbed)

1. (informal, transitive) To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
   • 1887, Anna Katharine Green, 7 to 12, A Detective Story, G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 2:

     As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he.
2. (informal, transitive) To grab or snatch something.

Synonyms

• (arrest a criminal or fugitive): nick, bust, cop

Derived terms

• nabber
• kidnap

Translations

Etymology 2

Compare knap, knop, knob.

Noun

nab (plural nabs)

1. The summit of an eminence.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

2. The cock of a gunlock.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

3. (locksmithing) The keeper, or box into which the lock is shot.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “nab”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• ABN, BAN, BNA, Ban, NBA, ban

Northern Kurdish

Adjective

nab

1. pure

Southeastern Tepehuan

Etymology

Cognate with Northern Tepehuan návoi, O'odham nav, Central Tarahumara napó, Mayo naabo, Hopi naavu.

Noun

nab

1. prickly pear cactus (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• nab junma?n

References

• R. de Willett, Elizabeth, et al. (2016) Diccionario tepehuano de Santa María Ocotán, Durango (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 48)?^[2] (in Spanish), electronic edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 132

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *?na? (“snake”). Cognate with Iu Mien naang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na?/

Noun

nab

1. snake.
2. worm.

Derived terms

• cua nab (“earthworm”)
• ntses nab (“eel”)
• nab qa (“lizard”)

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary?^[3], SEAP Publications, ?ISBN.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dæb/
• Rhymes: -æb

Etymology 1

From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Comparable 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”).

Verb

dab (third-person singular simple present dabs, present participle dabbing, simple past and past participle dabbed)

1. (transitive) To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.

2. (transitive) To apply a substance in this way.

3. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
   • 1532-1533, Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer

     to dabbe him in the necke

4. (slang) To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
5. (dance, intransitive) To perform the dab dance move, by moving both arms to one side of the body parallel with your head.
   • 2019, Stormzy, Vossi Bop

     Look, my brothas don't dab, we just vossi bop

Translations

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

1. A soft tap or blow; a blow or peck from a bird's beak; an aimed blow.
2. (African-American Vernacular) A soft, playful box given in greeting or approval.

   Coordinate terms: dap, fist bump, high five

   • page 197: I step closer to Profit and draw in a deep, steadying breath while the brothers exchange dabs. “What's up, fam? I see you finally made it.”

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

   Synonym: blob

   1. (slang) A small amount of hash oil.
4. (chiefly in the plural, dated, Britain) Fingerprint.
5. (dance) 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.

Related terms

• dap
• dob
• tap

Translations

Adverb

dab (not comparable)

1. With a dab, or sudden contact.

Translations

See also

• daub

Etymology 2

Perhaps corrupted from adept.

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

1. One skilful or proficient; an expert; an adept.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled person

   • c. 1759-1770?, Oliver Goldsmith, Essay

     One excels at a plan or the title page, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index.

Derived terms

• dab hand
• dabster

Translations

Etymology 3

Late Middle English dabbe, of unknown origin; perhaps related to sense 1 (“to press against lightly”) as in "a soft mass dabbed down."

Noun

dab (plural dabs)

1. A small flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae, especially Limanda limanda; a flounder.
2. (US) A sand dab, a small flatfish of genus Citharichthys.

Translations

Etymology 4

Back slang for bad.

Adjective

dab (comparative more dab, superlative most dab)

1. (obsolete, costermongers) Bad.

   Synonym: trosseno

   Antonyms: doog, doogheno

References

Further reading

• dab on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dab (dance) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Oxford English Dictionary (1989)
• dab at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ABD, ADB, Abd., BDA, D.B.A., DBA, abd., bad, d/b/a, dba

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English dab.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?p/
• Hyphenation: dab
• Rhymes: -?p

Noun

dab m (uncountable)

1. (dance) The dab (hip-hop dance move).

Related terms

• dabben

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic ???? (??b). The expected form would be dieb, which exists dialectally. The imala was irregularly inverted as in some other verbs with -u- in the imperfect.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da?p/

Verb

dab (imperfect jdub)

1. (intransitive) to melt (become liquid, especially through warmth)

Derived terms

• dewweb

White Hmong

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da?/

Noun

dab

1. (evil) spirit, considered responsible for epileptic attacks among other things

Derived terms

• qaug dab peg

References

• Ernest E. Heimbach, White Hmong - English Dictionary (1979, SEAP Publications)

Yola

Alternative forms

• dap

Etymology

From Middle English dabben.

Verb

dab

1. dash, slap

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN