Adjacent Words

jab definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow); "he warned me with a jab with his finger"; "he made a thrusting motion with his fist" [syn: jab, jabbing, poke, poking, thrust, thrusting]
2: a quick short straight punch
3: the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow; "she gave me a sharp dig in the ribs" [syn: dig, jab] v
1: poke or thrust abruptly; "he jabbed his finger into her ribs" [syn: jab, prod, stab, poke, dig]
2: strike or punch with quick and short blows
3: stab or pierce; "he jabbed the piece of meat with his pocket knife" [syn: stab, jab]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (jabbed; jabbing) Etymology: alteration of job to strike Date: 1827 transitive verb 1. a. to pierce with or as if with a sharp object ; stab b. to poke quickly or abruptly ; thrust 2. to strike with a short straight blow intransitive verb 1. to make quick or abrupt thrusts with a sharp object 2. to strike a person with a short straight blow II. noun Date: 1872 an act of jabbing; especially a short straight boxing punch delivered with the leading hand

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (jabbed, jabbing) 1 a poke roughly. b stab. 2 (foll. by into) thrust (a thing) hard or abruptly. --n. 1 an abrupt blow with one's fist or a pointed implement. 2 colloq. a hypodermic injection, esp. a vaccination. Etymology: orig. Sc. var. of JOB(2)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Jab Jab, v. t. [Cf. Job.] To thrust; to stab; to punch. See Job, v. t. [Scot. & Colloq. U. S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Jab Jab, n. A thrust or stab. [Scot. & Colloq. U. S.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(jabs, jabbing, jabbed) 1. If you jab one thing into another, you push it there with a quick, sudden movement and with a lot of force. He saw her jab her thumb on a red button–a panic button... A needle was jabbed into the baby's arm... Stern jabbed at me with his glasses... = stab VERB: V n prep, be V-ed into n, V at n 2. A jab is a sudden, sharp punch. He was simply too powerful for his opponent, rocking him with a steady supply of left jabs. N-COUNT 3. A jab is an injection of something into your blood to prevent illness. (BRIT INFORMAL) ...painful anti malaria jabs. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Parthian shot, assault, back answer, bang, barrack, bash, bat, bear, bear upon, bearing, beating, belt, biff, blow, bonk, boost, buck, bull, bulldoze, bump, bump against, bunt, butt, butt against, caustic remark, chaff, chop, clap, clip, clobber, clout, clump, coldcock, comeback, crack, cram, crowd, cut, cut at, cutting remark, dash, deal, deal a blow, deck, dig, dig at, dint, drive, drub, drubbing, drumming, dump, dump on, elbow, feint, fetch, fetch a blow, fleer, flout, foolery, force, fusillade, gibe, gibing retort, goad, head, hit, hit a clip, home thrust, hurtle, hustle, jab at, jam, jape, jeer, jest, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, knock, knock cold, knock down, knock out, leg-pull, let have it, lick, lunge, mock, nudge, parting shot, pass, paste, pelt, pile drive, plunk, poke, pooh, pooh-pooh, pound, press, pressure, prod, punch, push, put down, put-down, put-on, quip, rail at, rally, ram, ram down, rank out, rap, rattle, revile, rude reproach, run, run against, scoff, scout, scurrility, shake, short answer, shoulder, shove, slam, slap, slap at, slog, slug, smack, smash, smite, snap, sneer, sneer at, soak, sock, stab, stress, strike, strike at, stroke, swat, swing, swipe, tamp, tattoo, taunt, thrust, thump, thwack, twit, verbal thrust, wallop, whack, wham, whop, yerk