Reference > American Heritage® > Dictionary
  dabber dabbler  
CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
dabble
 
SYLLABICATION:dab·ble
PRONUNCIATION:  dbl
VERB:Inflected forms: dab·bled, dab·bling, dab·bles
TRANSITIVE VERB: To splash or spatter with or as if with a liquid: “The moon hung over the harbor dabbling the waves with gold” (Katherine Mansfield).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:1. To splash liquid gently and playfully. 2. To undertake something superficially or without serious intent: “The restaurant business entails more than . . . dabbling in interior design” (Andy Birsh, Gourmet May 1989). 3. To bob forward and under in shallow water so as to feed off the bottom.
ETYMOLOGY:Possibly from Dutch dabbelen, frequentative of dabben, to strike, tap.
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  dabber dabbler  
 
Google
Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.
Welcome · Press · Advertising · Linking · Terms of Use · © 2008 Bartleby.com