I. ˈdȯb, ˈdäb verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English dauben, from Old French dauber to whitewash, plaster, probably from (assumed) Vulgar Latin dalbare, alteration of Latin dealbare, from de- + -albare (from albus white) — more at elf
transitive verb
1. : to cover or coat (as lath, a wall, a building) with soft adhesive matter (as plaster, pitch, mud) : plaster , close , smear
daub the crack with plaster
daub a surface with glue
2. : to coat with something that smirches or stains
daubed his fingers with ink
: soil
generally daubs himself with soup and grease — Earl of Chesterfield
3. obsolete : to cover with a specious or deceitful exterior
he daubed his vice with show of virtue — Shakespeare
4. dialect England : to array tastelessly especially in a gaudy manner
5. : to apply paint or other coloring material crudely, hastily, or unskillfully to
their faces daubed a savage black — T.B.Costain
daubed her lips with lipstick
: apply (colors) in such a way
like an artist daubing unimportant touches of paint on a finished picture — Winifred Bambrick
intransitive verb
1. now dialect : to put on a false exterior in order to make an impression
2. : to paint or apply colors in a crude, amateur, or unskillful manner
Awful Arts Club … which has been daubing for ten years — Joseph Alger
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English dawbe, from dauben, v.
1. : material (as plaster, mortar, clay, mud) used with straw or hay or roughcast to daub walls
old house … built of wattle and daub — G.E.Fussell
— compare wattle
2. : the act or an instance of daubing
a few hasty daubs and the picture was ready
3.
a. : something daubed on ; especially : a viscous sticky application or a daubed spot, smear, or patch of paint
b. : something resembling or suggestive of a hastily or crudely applied touch, smear, or splash of paint
great daubs of brilliant-colored fabrics were stretched out on tables — Winifred Bambrick
4. : a picture coarsely and unskillfully executed
III.
variant of dab