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.
[Heb. tabal, or from the root of dip. See dip.] Literally, to dip a little or often; hence, to wet; to moisten; to spatter; to wet by little dips or strokes; to sprinkle.

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)

  1. (transitive) To partially wet (something) by splashing or dipping; connotes playfulness.
    The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.
  2. (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

See also

Translations