I. dash 1 /dæʃ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from the sound of something breaking when hit ]
1 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to go or run somewhere very quickly:
Olive dashed into the room, grabbed her bag, and ran out again.
2 . dash sb’s hopes to disappoint someone by telling them that what they want is not possible:
Hopkins’ hopes were dashed when his appeal was denied.
3 . (I) must dash/(I) have to dash British English spoken used to tell someone that you must leave quickly:
Anyway, I must dash – I said I’d meet Daniel at eight.
4 . [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] written to throw or push something violently against something, especially so that it breaks
dash something against/on something
The ship was dashed against the rocks.
dash against
Waves were dashing against the sea wall.
5 . dash it (all)! British English old-fashioned used to show that you are slightly annoyed or angry about something
dash off phrasal verb
1 . to leave somewhere very quickly:
Harry dashed off before she had a chance to thank him.
2 . dash something ↔ off to write or draw something very quickly:
She dashed off a quick letter.
II. dash 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . SMALL AMOUNT [singular]
a) a small amount of a substance that is added to something else
dash of
Add salt, pepper and a dash of vinegar.
b) a small amount of a quality that is added to something else
dash of
Add a dash of romance to your life with a trip to Paris.
2 . RUN QUICKLY [countable usually singular] an occasion when someone runs somewhere very quickly in order to get away from something or someone, or in order to reach them
make a dash for something
He made a dash for the door.
The prisoners made a dash for freedom.
It’s pouring with rain – we’ll have to make a dash for it.
When the alarm went there was a mad dash for the exit.
3 . LINE [countable] a line [ – ] used in writing to separate two closely related parts of a sentence, as for example, in the sentence ‘Go home – they’re waiting for you.’
4 . SOUND [countable] a long sound or flash of light used for sending messages in ↑ Morse code ⇨ dot
5 . CAR [countable] American English a ↑ dashboard
6 . STYLE [uncountable] old-fashioned style, energy, and courage in someone such as a soldier
7 . cut a dash old-fashioned to look very impressive and attractive in particular clothes:
With her new image, she’ll certainly cut a dash on her holiday cruise.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ make a dash for something
The rain had almost stopped so we decided to make a dash for home.
▪ make a dash for it (=run very quickly to escape or to reach a place)
He turned and made a dash for it but the police officer caught him.
■ adjectives
▪ a quick dash
Have I got time to make a quick dash to the shops?
▪ a sudden dash
He made a sudden dash for the door.
▪ a mad/frantic dash (=very fast, usually because you are worried about something)
‘Something’s burning’, she said, making a mad dash for the kitchen.
▪ a headlong dash (=without looking where you are going)
I made a headlong dash up the street but just missed the bus.
▪ a last-minute dash (=very fast, because you have very little time remaining)
We only just caught our plane, after a last-minute dash to the airport.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ types of punctuation mark
▪ apostrophe the sign ' that is used to show that one or more letters or numbers have been left out, as in don’t , or used before ‘s’ to show that something belongs to someone or something, as in Mark’s dog
▪ brackets British English , parentheses AmE and BrE formal a pair of signs used for enclosing information that interrupts a sentence
▪ colon the sign : that is used to introduce an explanation, example, quotation etc
▪ semicolon the sign ; that is used to separate words in a list, or different parts of a sentence that can be understood separately
▪ comma the sign , that is used to separate things in a list, or between two clauses in a sentence
▪ hyphen the sign – that is used to join words or syllables
▪ dash the sign — that is used to separate two closely related parts of a sentence, especially in more informal English
▪ full stop British English , period American English the sign . that is used to mark the end of a sentence or the short form of a word
▪ exclamation mark British English , exclamation point American English the sign ! that is used after a sentence or word that expresses surprise, anger, or excitement
▪ question mark the sign ? that is used at the end of a question
▪ quotation marks ( also inverted commas British English ) a pair of signs ‘ and ’ that are put around words, especially to show that you are quoting what someone has said