dab-hand

dab

3 [dab] Slang.
noun
1.
Also called dab hand. a person skilled in something; an expert.
2.
an excellent or extraordinary person or thing.
adjective
3.
expert; excellent; extraordinary.

Origin:
1685–95; of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
dab1 (dæb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb , dabs, dabbing, dabbed
1.  to touch lightly and quickly
2.  (tr) to daub with short tapping strokes: to dab the wall with paint
3.  (tr) to apply (paint, cream, etc) with short tapping strokes
 
n
4.  a small amount, esp of something soft or moist: a dab of ink
5.  a small light stroke or tap, as with the hand
6.  chiefly (Brit) (often plural) a slang word for fingerprint
 
[C14: of imitative origin]

00:10
Dab-hand is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
dab2 (dæb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a small common European brown flatfish, Limanda limanda, covered with rough toothed scales: family Pleuronectidae: a food fish
2.  (often plural) Compare sand dab any of various other small flatfish, esp flounders
3.  Also called: patiki a sand flounder, Rhombosolea plebia, common around New Zealand's South Island
 
[C15: from Anglo-French dabbe, of uncertain origin]

dab3 (dæb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
informal (Brit) See dab hand
 
[C17: perhaps from dab1 (vb)]

DAB
 
abbreviation for
digital audio broadcasting

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dab
c.1300, "heavy blow with a weapon," from dabben "to strike," perhaps imitative. Modern sense of "strike with a slight, quick pressure" developed by 1590s, infl. by Fr. dauber (see daub). Dab hand is British slang, 1828, from dab "expert" (1691), said to be school slang, of unknown origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
DAB
Dictionary of American Biography
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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