English Explanatory Dictionary

stab

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object.
  2. A wound made by stabbing.
  3. Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.
  4. An attempt.
  5. Criticism.
  6. A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.
  7. A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire.
verb
  1. To pierce or to wound (somebody) with a (usually pointed) tool or weapon, especially a knife or dagger.
  2. To thrust in a stabbing motion.
  3. To recklessly hit with the tip of a (usually pointed) object, such as a weapon or finger (often used with at).
  4. To cause a sharp, painful sensation (often used with at).
  5. To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander.
  6. To roughen a brick wall with a pick so as to hold plaster.
  7. To pierce folded sheets, near their back edges, for the passage of thread or wire.
  8. To guide the end of a pipe into a coupling when making up a connection.
noun
  1. The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft.
adj
  1. Clipping of established.
noun
  1. Clipping of establishment.
noun
  1. A 50% damage boost applied when a Pokémon uses a move with the same type as itself (for example, an Electric-type Pokémon using an Electric-type move).

Pronunciation

stăb /stæb/ en-us-stab.ogg

Word forms

stab stabs stabbing stabbed

Etymology

First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe. Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.

Synonyms

chef chib ching chive enthrill foin gore gride jab job juke kebab knifecrime lancinate pigstick pink poach run through shank shiv spear speet splash stab stick stob stog thrust yerk besmirch denigrate assassinate asperse backbite badmouth befoul belibel besmear bewray blacken blame blaze blemish blot blur calumniate calumny chat shit chat shite cloud defame demonize deprave depreciate detract dirty discredit disgrace disparage disrepute

Derived words

antistab downstab have a stab have a stab at take a stab at stab binding stabbing stabby stab cell stab in the back stab in the dark stablike stab pass stabproof stab-rag stab stitch stabstitch stabvest stab vest stabwort stabworthy stab wound stabwound backstab backstabbing brain-stabbing stab a guess stabbable stabbee stabber stab yourself and pass the dagger twice-stabbed lady beetle twice-stabbed ladybug twice-stabbed stink bug unstabbed
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