dash
verbEtymology From Middle English daschen, dassen, from Danish daske (“to slap, strike”), related to Swedish daska (“to smack, slap, spank”), of obscure origin. Compare German tatschen (“to grope, paw”), Old English dwǣsċan (“to quell, put out, destroy, extinguish”). See also dush.
11 senses
- 1To run quickly or for a short distance.
- 2To leave or depart.
- 3To destroy by striking (against).
- 4To throw violently.
- 5To sprinkle; to splatter.
- 6To mix, reduce, or adulterate, by throwing in something…
- 7To ruin; to destroy.
- 8To dishearten; to sadden.
- 9To complete hastily.
- 10To draw or write quickly; jot.
- 11Damn (in forming oaths).
1
To run quickly or for a short distance.
- He dashed across the field.
- As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 670:
2
Informal To leave or depart.
- I have to dash now. See you soon.
3
To destroy by striking (against).
- He dashed the bottle against the bar and turned about to fight.
- There were the tawny rocks, like lions couchant, defying the ocean, whose waves incessantly dashed against and scoured them with vast quantities of gravel.1865, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Shipwreck”, in [Sophia Thoreau; William Ellery Channing], editors, Cape Cod, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 14:
2 more examples
- Silence! If you make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
- Kala was the youngest mate of a male called Tublat, meaning broken nose, and the child she had seen dashed to death was her first; for she was but nine or ten years old.1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
4
To throw violently.
- The man was dashed from the vehicle during the accident.
- If you dash a stone against a stone in the bottom of the water, it maketh a sound.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 792:
2 more examples
- The rooks are blown about the skies; The forest crack’d, the waters curl’d, The cattle huddled on the lea; And wildly dash’d on tower and tree The sunbeam strikes along the world: […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24:
- They say that I’m way too cold, I never get tired of rappin / My word is bang where I come from / Watch be one work is magic / Do it and dash it / Smile on MAT / No way this peng one acting / Who got whacked and who got slapped / And who got spared by dashes2018 January 24, “Irrelevant Things”, performed by C1 from LTH:
5
Ambitransitive, Figuratively, Sometimes To sprinkle; to splatter.
- On each hand the gushing waters play, / And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:
- The very source and fount of Day Is dash’d with wandering isles of night.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 41:
1 more example
- [W]hen I draw any faulty character, I consider all those persons to whom the malice of the world may possibly apply it, and take care to dash it with such particular circumstances as may prevent all such ill-natured applications.1712 January 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, December 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 262; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 305:
6
Dated To mix, reduce, or adulterate, by throwing in something of an inferior quality.
- to dash wine with water
7
Of hopes or dreams To ruin; to destroy.
- Her hopes were dashed when she saw the damage.
- Arsenal's hopes of starting their Champions League campaign with an away win were dashed when substitute Ivan Perisic's superb late volley rescued a point for Borussia Dortmund.2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 – 1 Arsenal”, in BBC:
8
To dishearten; to sadden.
- Her thoughts were dashed to melancholy.
9
To complete hastily.
Usually with down or off
- He dashed down his eggs.
- She dashed off her homework.
10
To draw or write quickly; jot.
- "Scarborough," Mrs. Flanders wrote on the envelope, and dashed a bold line beneath; it was her native town; the hub of the universe.1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter I, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:
- Going out the door, he grabbed a windbreaker and dashed a note to his father and left it on the entry table.2002, Robert Andrews, “Twenty”, in A Murder of Promise, 1st edition, New York City: Putnam's, published 2002, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 181:
11
Dated, Euphemistic Damn (in forming oaths).
- Dash his impudence! Who is that scoundrel?
- Derived terms
- airdash, dash down, dash it all, dash off, dash on, dash someone's hopes, dine and dash, gas and dash, interdash, outdash, smash and dash, splash-and-dash, todash