dab

For the last few days, smack dab in the middle of his long-awaited breakthrough at USC, Arenas was sick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

"The chimpanzees dab them on their wounds or chew the plants up, and then apply the chewed material to the open injury."

From BBC ● May 14, 2025

We’re smack dab in the middle of 2010 again.

From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2025

Her son gently tries to dab it away with a tissue as a nurse comes by with a blood pressure stand.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025

“Ooh—I can’t remember the last time somebody made me so mad. The nerve! Threatening us . . .” Her voice shook, and she turned quickly away to dab at her eyes.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Iron-straight defence, dabs to third man and shuffles off the hips.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025

We’re not talking about traditional formulaic “landscapes” of yore — SoCal tract homes swathed in lawns edged with nondescript shrubs and dabs of annual color bought at big-box nurseries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025

Martha Stewart doesn't do warts, but Cutler edits a wry irony into the artful coverage she dabs on her blemishes, like her refusal to count her marital infidelity as equivalent to that of her husband.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2024

His voice was firm, doling out dabs of sweetness cut with the occasional thrilling yelp.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023

Cook drips tanroot oil on a square of gauze and dabs it onto the wound.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

In the rear open kitchen, Manon Fleury turned humble winter produce into memorable dishes: Fried sweet-potato threads mimicked a mini funnel cake, dabbed with loquat jam.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

She dabbed some oil on the inside of my wrists — a special concoction her mother Diane makes called Wolf Oil, which you can buy at the collective for $45.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025

Afterwards Nawat appeared at a press conference wearing a tuxedo and openly weeping as he theatrically dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief, claiming he had been "betrayed".

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025

He frequently dabbed at the eye and found it difficult to match Rodriguez's pace.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025

Penelope whipped out a pocket handkerchief and dabbed the snow off the envelope.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

We see through her eyes an assistant dabbing moisturizer on her hand, art installers asking where she wants a large sculpture, a man cleaning her pool who greets her.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

“He never told anyone what to say,” she said, occasionally dabbing her eyes with a tissue as she spoke.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025

"You have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have," she said, dabbing away tears and occasionally pausing to collect herself.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025

When she’s asked to imagine her life after “Hacks,” Einbinder’s face suddenly turns pink, a folded tissue appears, and she’s dabbing away tears.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025

Harry left Hermione dabbing her black eye with paste and followed Fred toward the back of the shop, where he saw a stand of card and rope tricks.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling