Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dabble
Dab′ble
(dăb′b’l)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dabbled
(dăb′b’ld)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Dabbling
(dăb′blĭng)
.] [Freq. of
dab
: cf. OD. dabbelen
.] To wet by little dips or strokes; to spatter; to sprinkle; to moisten; to wet.
“Bright hair dabbled in blood.” Shak.
Dab′ble
,Verb.
I.
1.
To play in water, as with the hands; to paddle or splash in mud or water.
Where the duck
dabbles
’mid the rustling sedge. Wordsworth.
2.
To work in slight or superficial manner; to do in a small way; to tamper; to meddle.
“Dabbling here and there with the text.” Atterbury.
During the first year at Dumfries, Burns for the first time began to
dabble
in politics. J. C. Shairp.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dabble
DAB'BLE
,Verb.
T.
DAB'BLE
, v.i.1.
To play in water; to dip the hands, throw water and splash about; to play in mud and water.2.
To do any thing in a slight or superficial manner; to tamper; to touch here and there.You have, I think, been dabbling with the text. Atterbury.
3.
To meddle; to dip into a concern.Definition 2024
dabble
dabble
English
Verb
dabble (third-person singular simple present dabbles, present participle dabbling, simple past and past participle dabbled)
- (transitive) To partially wet (something) by splashing or dipping; connotes playfulness.
- The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.
- (intransitive) To participate or have an interest in an activity, but in a casual or superficial way.
- She's an actress by trade, but has been known to dabble in poetry.
Derived terms
- dabble in
- dabbler
See also
Translations
partially wet
participate
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