dab hand

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.

noun

1. British informal a person who is particularly skilled at something; experta dab hand at chess

abbreviation for

1. digital audio broadcasting

verb dabs, dabbing or dabbed

1. to touch lightly and quickly
2. (tr) to daub with short tapping strokesto dab the wall with paint
3. (tr) to apply (paint, cream, etc) with short tapping strokes

noun

4. a small amount, esp of something soft or moista dab of ink
5. a small light stroke or tap, as with the hand
6. (often plural) mainly British a slang word for fingerprint

noun

1. a small common European brown flatfish, Limanda limanda, covered with rough toothed scales: family Pleuronectidae: a food fish
2. (often plural) any of various other small flatfish, esp floundersCompare sand dab
3. Also called: patiki a sand flounder, Rhombosolea plebia, common around New Zealand’s South Island

noun

1. British informal See dab hand

v.

c.1300, dabben “to strike,” of unknown origin, perhaps imitative. Modern sense of “strike with a slight, quick pressure” developed by mid-16c., influenced by French dauber (see daub). Related: Dabbed; dabbing. As a noun from c.1300, “heavy blow with a weapon.” Dab hand is British slang, 1828, from dab “expert” (1690s), said to be school slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from dab in the “strike lightly” sense.