dash: Meaning and Definition of

dash

Pronunciation: (dash), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to strike or smash violently, esp. so as to break to pieces: He dashed the plate into smithereens against the wall.
  2. to throw or thrust violently or suddenly: to dash one stone against another.
  3. to splash, often violently; bespatter (with water, mud, etc.): He recovered consciousness when they dashed water in his face.
  4. to apply roughly, as by splashing: to dash paint here and there on the wall.
  5. to mix or adulterate by adding another substance: to dash wine with water.
  6. to ruin or frustrate (hopes, plans, etc.): The rain dashed our hopes for a picnic.
  7. to depress; dispirit: The failure dashed his spirits.
  8. to confound or abash: His rejection dashed and humiliated him.
—v.i.
  1. to strike with violence: The waves dashed against the cliff.
  2. to move with violence; rush: The horses dashed out of the burning stable.
  3. I must dash off now.
    1. to hurry away; leave:I must dash off now.
    2. Also,dash down.to write, make, accomplish, etc., hastily:We dashed off a letter to announce the news. He dashed down a memo.
—n.
  1. a small quantity of anything thrown into or mixed with something else: a dash of salt.
  2. a hasty or sudden movement; a rush or sudden onset: They all made a dash for the door.
  3. the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.
  4. the throwing or splashing of liquid against something: the dash of the waves against the dock.
  5. the sound of such splashing: The dash of the waves on the beach could be heard from afar.
  6. spirited action; élan; vigor in action or style: The dancer performed with spirit and dash.
  7. a short race: a 100-yard dash.
  8. dashboard (def. 1).
  9. a signal of longer duration than a dot, used in groups of dots, dashes, and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.
  10. a hasty stroke, esp. of a pen.
  11. a violent and rapid blow or stroke.
  12. to make a striking impression; be ostentatious or showy.

dash

Pronunciation: (dash), [key]
— v.t. Chiefly Brit.
  1. to damn (usually used interjectionally).

dash

Pronunciation: (dash), [key]
— (in West Africa)
—n.
  1. a tip, bribe, or recompense.
  2. bribery.
—v.t.
  1. to give a tip or bribe to (esp. a government employee).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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