dash 1
/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. daske slap, flap, Sw daska; (n.) ME: blow, clash, deriv. of the v. ]
Syn. 10. dart, bolt. See rush 1 . 12. pinch, bit; touch.
dash 2
/dash/ , v.t. Chiefly Brit.
to damn (usually used interjectionally).
[ 1790-1800; euphemism based on d - n, printed form of DAMN ]
dash 3
/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
das (you) give (2d sing. pres. indic. of dar to give) ]