/ dæʃ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
STH DONE QUICKLY
1.
[ sing. ] a ~ (for sth) an act of going somewhere suddenly and/or quickly :
When the doors opened, there was a mad dash for seats.
a 60-mile dash to safety
He jumped off the bus and made a dash for the nearest bar.
We waited for the police to leave then made a dash for it (= left quickly in order to escape) .
2.
[ sing. ] an act of doing sth quickly because you do not have enough time :
a last-minute dash to buy presents
SMALL AMOUNT
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] dash (of sth) a small amount of sth that is added to sth else :
Add a dash of lemon juice.
The rug adds a dash of colour to the room.
—compare splash
SYMBOL
4.
[ C ] the mark (—) used to separate parts of a sentence, often instead of a colon or in pairs instead of brackets / parentheses
—compare hyphen
RACE
5.
[ C , usually sing. ] ( especially NAmE ) a race in which the people taking part run very fast over a short distance
SYN sprint :
the 100-meter dash
WAY OF BEHAVING
6.
[ U ] ( old-fashioned , approving ) a way of behaving that combines style, enthusiasm and confidence
PART OF CAR
7.
[ C ] ( informal ) = dashboard
—see also pebble-dash
•
IDIOMS
- cut a dash
■ verb
GO QUICKLY
1.
[ v , usually + adv. / prep. ] to go somewhere very quickly
SYN rush :
I must dash (= leave quickly) , I'm late.
She dashed off to keep an appointment.
He dashed along the platform and jumped on the train.
THROW / BEAT
2.
[+ adv. / prep. ] to throw sth or make sth fall violently onto a hard surface; to beat against a surface :
[ vn ]
The boat was dashed repeatedly against the rocks.
[ v ]
The waves were dashing against the harbour wall.
•
IDIOMS
- dash sb's hopes
- dash (it)! | dash it all!
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- dash sth off
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense strike forcibly against ): probably symbolic of forceful movement and related to Swedish and Danish daska .