dabble
Plural: dabbles
Verb
Verb Forms: dabbled, dabbling, dabbles
- To splash in a liquid playfully or engage superficially.
- dip a foot or hand briefly into a liquid
- play in or as if in water, as of small children
- work with in an amateurish manner
- "She dabbles in astronomy"
- bob forward and under so as to feed off the bottom of a body of water
- To make slightly wet or soiled by spattering or sprinkling a liquid (such as water, mud, or paint) on it; to bedabble.
- To cause splashing by moving a body part like a bill or limb in soft mud, water, etc., often playfully; to play in shallow water; to paddle.
- To feed without diving, by submerging the head and neck underwater to seek food, often also tipping up the tail straight upwards above the water.
- To participate or have an interest in an activity in a casual or superficial way.
- To interfere or meddle in; to tamper with.
Noun
- A spattering or sprinkling of a liquid.
- An act of splashing in soft mud, water, etc.
- An act of participation in an activity in a casual or superficial way.
Examples
- He loved to dabble in various word games, never mastering just one.
- She’s an actress by trade, but has been known to dabble in poetry.
- The children sat on the dock and dabbled their feet in the water.
Origin / Etymology
From earlier dable, equivalent to dab + -le (frequentative suffix), possibly from Middle Dutch dabbelen (“to pinch; knead; to fumble; to dabble”); cognate with Icelandic dafla (“to dabble”).
Synonyms
paddle, play around, smatter, splash around, bespatter, besprinkle, spatter
Scrabble Score: 11
dabble: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Worddabble: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dabble: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary