dab

Who acts: you, other arm, Dabs, She, footballer, Grandma · What happens: touch, dab, put, amount, drop, point out · To what, where: something, eyes, small amount, glue, head, bent arm · Speech: someone speaks here

«dab» in the school dictionary: its 8 meanings for a pupil and its 9 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: dab in the school dictionary.

Meaning 1

Usage: verb — kept apart, not parsed.

To touch something lightly and quickly several times, often with a cloth or sponge: «dab your eyes».

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 touch	mark
2	touch	touch	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	something	something	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	2 touch	obj
4	lightly	lightly	ADV	_	2 touch	advmod
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 quickly	cc
6	quickly	quickly	ADV	_	4 lightly	conj
7	several	several	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 times	amod
8	times	time	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 touch	obl:unmarked
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 cloth	punct
10	often	often	ADV	_	13 cloth	advmod
11	with	with	ADP	_	13 cloth	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 cloth	det
13	cloth	cloth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 touch	obl
14	or	or	CCONJ	_	15 sponge	cc
15	sponge	sponge	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 cloth	conj
16	:	:	PUNCT	_	18 dab	punct
17	«	«	PUNCT	_	18 dab	punct
18	dab	dab	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	2 touch	parataxis
19	your	your	PRON	Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	20 eyes	nmod:poss
20	eyes	eye	NOUN	Number=Plur	18 dab	obj
21	»	»	PUNCT	_	18 dab	punct
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 touch	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	touch	to-infinitive		something			time	with a cloth or sponge; lightly property	tree rules
2	dab in a quote	infinitive		your eyes					vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent eye=Theme

One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

Meaning 2

Usage: verb — kept apart, not parsed.

To put on a small amount of something with light touches: «dab paint on the paper».

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 put	mark
2	put	put	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	on	on	ADP	_	6 amount	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 amount	det
5	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 amount	amod
6	amount	amount	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 put	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 something	case
8	something	something	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	6 amount	nmod
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 touches	case
10	light	light	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 touches	compound
11	touches	touch	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 something	nmod
12	:	:	PUNCT	_	15 paint	punct
13	«	«	PUNCT	_	15 paint	punct
14	dab	dab	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 paint	amod
15	paint	paint	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 something	nmod
16	on	on	ADP	_	18 paper	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 paper	det
18	paper	paper	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 paint	nmod
19	»	»	PUNCT	_	15 paint	punct
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 put	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	put	to-infinitive				a small amount of something			vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent on amount=Destination
2	amount			something					nom amount «possession transitive»: of=patient

Meaning 3

Usage: noun — kept apart, not parsed.

A small amount of something: «a dab of glue».

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 amount	det
2	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 amount	amod
3	amount	amount	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 something	case
5	something	something	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	3 amount	nmod
6	:	:	PUNCT	_	9 dab	punct
7	«	«	PUNCT	_	9 dab	punct
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 dab	det
9	dab	dab	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 something	appos
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 glue	case
11	glue	glue	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 dab	nmod
12	»	»	PUNCT	_	9 dab	punct
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 amount	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	amount			something					nom amount «possession transitive»: of=patient
2	dab in a quote			glue					nom dab «act transitive»: of=patient

Meaning 4

Usage: noun — kept apart, not parsed.

A light, quick touch.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 light	det
2	light	light	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 touch	punct
4	quick	quick	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 touch	amod
5	touch	touch	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 light	conj
6	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 light	punct

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Meaning 5

Usage: noun, informal — kept apart, not parsed.

A dance move where you drop your head into the bent arm while the other arm points out.

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 move	det
2	dance	dance	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 move	compound
3	move	move	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	6 drop	advmod
5	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	6 drop	nsubj
6	drop	drop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 move	acl:relcl
7	your	your	PRON	Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 head	nmod:poss
8	head	head	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drop	obj
9	into	into	ADP	_	12 arm	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 arm	det
11	bent	bent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 arm	amod
12	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drop	obl
13	while	while	SCONJ	_	17 points	mark
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 arm	det
15	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 arm	amod
16	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 points	nsubj
17	points	point	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 drop	advcl
18	out	out	ADP	_	17 points	compound:prt
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 move	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	drop	present	you	your head		the bent arm			vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent head=Theme into arm=Destination
2	point out	present	the other arm						vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Meaning 6

Usage: UK informal — kept apart, not parsed.

«a dab hand at» — very good at something.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	4 hand	punct
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 hand	det
3	dab	dab	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 hand	amod
4	hand	hand	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	at	at	ADP	_	6 »	case
6	»	»	PUNCT	_	4 hand	punct
7	—	-	PUNCT	_	9 good	punct
8	very	very	ADV	_	9 good	advmod
9	good	good	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 hand	conj
10	at	at	ADP	_	11 something	case
11	something	something	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	9 good	obl
12	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 hand	punct

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Meaning 7

Usage: noun — kept apart, not parsed.

A small flat sea fish.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 fish	det
2	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 fish	amod
3	flat	flat	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 fish	amod
4	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 fish	compound
5	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	.	.	PUNCT	_	5 fish	punct

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Meaning 8

Dabs (UK slang, old) fingerprints.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Dabs	dab	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fingerprints	nsubj
2	(	(	PUNCT	_	4 slang	punct
3	UK	UK	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 slang	compound
4	slang	slang	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Dabs	appos
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 old	punct
6	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 slang	amod
7	)	)	PUNCT	_	4 slang	punct
8	fingerprints	fingerprint	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	8 fingerprints	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fingerprint	present	Dabs						tree rules

Example 1

Dab the cut gently with a clean tissue.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Dab	dab	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 cut	det
3	cut	cut	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Dab	obj
4	gently	gently	ADV	_	1 Dab	advmod
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 tissue	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 tissue	det
7	clean	clean	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 tissue	amod
8	tissue	tissue	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Dab	obl
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Dab	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	dab	imperative	you not said here	the cut				with a clean tissue; gently property	vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent cut=Destination with tissue=Theme

Example 2

She dabbed her eyes with a hanky at the end of the film.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 dabbed	nsubj
2	dabbed	dab	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	4 eyes	nmod:poss
4	eyes	eye	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 dabbed	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 hanky	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 hanky	det
7	hanky	hanky	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 dabbed	obl
8	at	at	ADP	_	10 end	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 end	det
10	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 dabbed	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 film	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 film	det
13	film	film	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 end	nmod
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 dabbed	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	dab	past	She	her eyes			at the end of the film	with a hanky	vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent eye=Theme at end=Destination

Example 3

Dab blue paint on with a sponge to make the sky.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Dab	dab	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 paint	amod
2	blue	blue	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 paint	amod
3	paint	paint	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	on	on	ADP	_	3 paint	compound:prt
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 sponge	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 sponge	det
7	sponge	sponge	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 paint	nmod
8	to	to	PART	_	9 make	mark
9	make	make	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 sponge	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 sky	det
11	sky	sky	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 make	obj
12	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 paint	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	to-infinitive		the sky					vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sky=Product

Example 4

Put a dab of glue on each corner.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Put	put	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 dab	det
3	dab	dab	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Put	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 glue	case
5	glue	glue	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 dab	nmod
6	on	on	ADP	_	8 corner	case
7	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	8 corner	det
8	corner	corner	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Put	obl
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Put	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	put	imperative	you not said here	a dab of glue		each corner			vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent dab=Theme on corner=Destination
2	dab			glue					nom dab «act transitive»: of=patient

Example 5

Add a dab of butter to the hot potatoes.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Add	add	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 dab	det
3	dab	dab	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Add	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 butter	case
5	butter	butter	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 dab	nmod
6	to	to	ADP	_	9 potatoes	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 potatoes	det
8	hot	hot	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 potatoes	amod
9	potatoes	potato	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Add	obl
10	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Add	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	add speech: assert	imperative	you not said here	a dab of butter				to the hot potatoes	vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent dab=Patient to potato=Co-Patient
2	dab			butter					nom dab «act transitive»: of=patient

Example 6

The footballer did a dab to celebrate his goal.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 footballer	det
2	footballer	footballer	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 did	nsubj
3	did	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 dab	det
5	dab	dab	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 did	obj
6	to	to	PART	_	7 celebrate	mark
7	celebrate	celebrate	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 did	advcl
8	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 goal	nmod:poss
9	goal	goal	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 celebrate	obj
10	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 did	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	do	past	the footballer	a dab					vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dab=Eventuality
2	celebrate	to-infinitive	the footballer not said here	footballer's goal					vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goal=Theme

Example 7

Grandma is a dab hand at knitting.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Grandma	grandma	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 hand	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 hand	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 hand	det
4	dab	dab	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 hand	amod
5	hand	hand	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	at	at	ADP	_	7 knitting	case
7	knitting	knitting	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 hand	nmod
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	5 hand	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	Grandma	a dab hand		knitting			tree rules

Example 8

We caught a little dab off the pier.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	We	we	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	2 caught	nsubj
2	caught	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 dab	det
4	little	little	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 dab	amod
5	dab	dab	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 caught	obj
6	off	off	ADP	_	8 pier	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 pier	det
8	pier	pier	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 caught	obl
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 caught	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past	We	a little dab				off the pier	vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dab=Theme

Example 9

Very funny the palace must have looked each morning, with the dabs of different colour on the white marble as the princes were climbing up the walls.

The tree, 27 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Very	very	ADV	_	2 funny	advmod
2	funny	funny	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 palace	amod
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 palace	det
4	palace	palace	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 looked	nsubj:pass
5	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	7 looked	aux
6	have	have	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	7 looked	aux
7	looked	look	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	9 morning	det
9	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 looked	obl:unmarked
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 dabs	punct
11	with	with	ADP	_	13 dabs	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 dabs	det
13	dabs	dab	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 looked	obl
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 colour	case
15	different	different	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 colour	amod
16	colour	colour	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 dabs	nmod
17	on	on	ADP	_	20 marble	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 marble	det
19	white	white	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 marble	amod
20	marble	marble	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 dabs	nmod
21	as	as	SCONJ	_	25 climbing	mark
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 princes	det
23	princes	prince	NOUN	Number=Plur	25 climbing	nsubj
24	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	25 climbing	aux
25	climbing	climb	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	20 marble	acl
26	up	up	ADP	_	25 climbing	compound:prt
27	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	28 walls	det
28	walls	wall	NOUN	Number=Plur	25 climbing	obj
29	.	.	PUNCT	_	7 looked	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	look	must · perfect · passive		the funny palace		morning	with the dabs of different colour on the white marble	vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Attribute
2	climb up	past · progressive	the princes	the walls				vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial_Location wall=Theme
3	dab			different colour	the white marble			nom dab «act transitive»: of=patient on=place

Text: the school dictionary of Mova's schools (world/data/dictionary-schools/), written for Mova. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dab/