Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

dab

2 verb
     
dab2 past tense and past participle dabbed, present participle dabbing
1 [intransitive and transitive] to touch something lightly several times, usually with something such as a cloth:
She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
dab at
He dabbed at his bleeding lip.
2 [transitive] to put a substance onto something with quick light movements of your hand
dab something on/onto etc something
She dabbed some cream on her face.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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