daub

[dawb]
verb (used with object)
1.
to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud: to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.
2.
to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something: to daub plaster on a brick wall.
3.
to smear, soil, or defile.
4.
to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.
verb (used without object)
5.
to daub something.
6.
to paint unskillfully.
00:10
Daub is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
to flee; abscond:
noun
7.
material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
8.
something daubed on.
9.
an act of daubing.
10.
a crude, inartistic painting.

Origin:
1275–1325; (v.) Middle English dauben < Anglo-French, Old French dauber to whiten, paint < Latin dealbāre, equivalent to de-, prevocalic variant of dē- de- + albāre to whiten, derivative of albus white; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.

daub·er, noun
daub·ing·ly, adverb
daub·y, adjective
un·daubed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To daub
Collins
World English Dictionary
daub (dɔːb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  (tr) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly
2.  (tr) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly
3.  to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly
 
n
4.  an unskilful or crude painting
5.  See also wattle and daub something daubed on, esp as a wall covering
6.  a smear (of paint, mud, etc)
7.  the act of daubing
 
[C14: from Old French dauber to paint, whitewash, from Latin dealbāre, from albāre to whiten, from albus white]
 
'dauber
 
n
 
'dauby
 
adj

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

daub
early 14c., from O.Fr. dauber "to whitewash, plaster," probably from L. dealbare, from de- "thoroughly" + albare "to whiten," from albus "white." Painting sense is from 1630.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The committee put a red daub on the map to indicate trouble.
His body is covered with both bacteria and amino acids, all of which his make-up artists lovingly daub.
But her lovely, smiling features are quite unrecognizable in this clumsy daub.
Some daub their faces with brightly colored zinc protective cream.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT