Meaning

(transitive) To make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble.
2. (transitive) To cause splashing by moving a body part like a bill or limb in soft mud, water, etc., often playfully; to play in shallow water; to paddle.
3. (intransitive, of waterfowl) To feed without diving, by submerging the head and neck underwater to seek food, often also tipping up the tail straight upwards above the water.
4. (intransitive, figuratively) To participate or have an interest in an activity in a casual or superficial way.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To interfere or meddle in; to tamper with.
6. A spattering or sprinkling of a liquid.
7. An act of splashing in soft mud, water, etc.
8. An act of participation in an activity in a casual or superficial way.

Example Sentences

The Itelians […] reſpectleſſe of gentry, of few words, for they barrell up commonly more then they can broach, and ſo may be ſaid to be like a great bottle with a narrow necke; yet they are moſt cunning and circumſpect in negotiating, ſpecially when they have bin tampering with the Vine or the hop, and are dabbled a little with their liquor.

If ſhe [the nurse] obſerves that the ſkin ſeems any where to be chafed, after dabbling the part very well with cold water, and drying it gently with a fine cloth, let her apply ſome common powder to it, by means of a ſoft puff.

The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.

The modern masters promise very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles.

When a duck dabbles its bill in mud, it is using the lamellae (transverse plates) on the inner edges of its bill as a highly efficient filter. As the duck dabbles, its tongue acts as a piston, sucking water or mud into the mouth and driving it out again. Only the edible particles are left behind on the lamellae.

She’s an actress by trade, but has been known to dabble in poetry.

And now that I have finiſhed all the parts, which I propoſed to diſcourſe of; I will conclude all with a ſhort application to the Atheiſts. And I would adviſe them as a Friend, to leave off this dabbling and ſmattering in Philoſophy, this ſhuffling and cutting with Atoms.

Word Forms

• dabbles
• dabbling
• dabbled

Synonyms for dabble

Related Words

When Should You Use Dabble?

Use dabble when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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