- dash
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dash1
/dash/, v.t.1. to strike or smash violently, esp. so as to break to pieces: He dashed the plate into smithereens against the wall.2. to throw or thrust violently or suddenly: to dash one stone against another.3. to splash, often violently; bespatter (with water, mud, etc.): He recovered consciousness when they dashed water in his face.4. to apply roughly, as by splashing: to dash paint here and there on the wall.5. to mix or adulterate by adding another substance: to dash wine with water.6. to ruin or frustrate (hopes, plans, etc.): The rain dashed our hopes for a picnic.7. to depress; dispirit: The failure dashed his spirits.8. to confound or abash: His rejection dashed and humiliated him.v.i.9. to strike with violence: The waves dashed against the cliff.10. to move with violence; rush: The horses dashed out of the burning stable.11. dash off,a. to hurry away; leave: I must dash off now.b. Also, dash down. to write, make, accomplish, etc., hastily: We dashed off a letter to announce the news. He dashed down a memo.n.12. a small quantity of anything thrown into or mixed with something else: a dash of salt.13. a hasty or sudden movement; a rush or sudden onset: They all made a dash for the door.14. the mark or sign ( - ) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.15. the throwing or splashing of liquid against something: the dash of the waves against the dock.16. the sound of such splashing: The dash of the waves on the beach could be heard from afar.17. spirited action; élan; vigor in action or style: The dancer performed with spirit and dash.18. Track. a short race: a 100-yard dash.19. dashboard (def. 1).20. Telegraphy. a signal of longer duration than a dot, used in groups of dots, dashes, and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.21. a hasty stroke, esp. of a pen.22. Archaic. a violent and rapid blow or stroke.23. cut a dash, to make a striking impression; be ostentatious or showy.[1250-1300; (v.) ME dasshen, perh. < ON; cf. Dan daske slap, flap, Sw daska; (n.) ME: blow, clash, deriv. of the v.]dash2/dash/, v.t. Chiefly Brit.to damn (usually used interjectionally).[1790-1800; euphemism based on d - n, printed form of DAMN]dash3/dash/, (in West Africa)n.1. a tip, bribe, or recompense.2. bribery.v.t.3. to give a tip or bribe to (esp. a government employee).[1780-1790; perh. first recorded in D as dache, dasche (1602); orig. uncert., but often alleged to be < Pg das (you) give (2d sing. pres. indic. of dar to give)]
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Universalium. 2010.
