dash

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).
2. (countable, uncountable)Any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).
3. (broadly, countable, uncountable)The longer of the two symbols of Morse code.
4. (countable, uncountable)A short run, flight.

   “When the feds came they did the dash.”

5. (countable, uncountable)A rushing or violent onset.

   “The oar squeaks, a dash sound like moon-hustle on the river:”

6. (countable, uncountable)Violent strike; a whack.

   “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 dashes”

7. (countable, uncountable)A small quantity of a liquid substance etc.; less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

   “Add a dash of vinegar.”

8. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable)A slight admixture.

   “There is a dash of craziness in his personality.”

9. (uncountable)Ostentatious vigor.

   “Aren't we full of dash this morning?”

10. (Nigeria, countable, uncountable)A bribe or gratuity; a gift.

    “The traditional practice of offering gifts or "dash" to chiefs has often been misinterpreted by scholars to provide a cultural explanation for the pervasive incidence of bribery and corruption in modern Africa.”

    “Writing in 1924 on a similar situation in Ugep, the political officer, Mr. S. T. Harvey noted: "In the old days there was no specified dowry but merely dashes given to the father-in-law, from 8 to 20 rods according to the status of the man[…]The dowry is made small because whatsoever a woman farms or reaps during her life time is by native custom the property of her parents."”

    “The only other times you'll be asked for a dash is from beggars.”

11. (countable, dated, euphemistic, uncountable)A stand-in for a censored word, like "Devil" or "damn". (Compare deuce.)

    “Sir Thomas looks as if to ask what the dash is that to you! but wanting still to go to India again, and knowing how strong the Newcomes are in Leadenhall Street, he thinks it necessary to be civil to the young cub, and swallows his pride once more into his waistband. Comment: Some editions leave this passage out. Of those that include it, some change the 'you!' to 'you?'.”

    “Who the dash is this person whom none of us know? and what the dash does he do here?”

12. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)Ellipsis of dashboard.

    “The dash clock said 2:38 when[…] I turned off a dirt road[…].”

13. (Internet, countable, informal, uncountable)Ellipsis of dashboard.

    “-i hope you find at least one thing on your dash that will make you laugh today.”

    “i cannot tell you how happy it makes me when i see my dash filled with selfies from other folks who look like me.”

    ““You wanna know what else is all over my dash? Gifs of you and your boyfriend."”

14. (India, UK, countable, uncountable)A prime symbol.

verb

1. (intransitive)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.”

2. (informal, intransitive)To leave or depart.

   “I have to dash now. See you soon.”

3. (transitive)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.”

   “Silence! If you make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes.”

   “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.”

4. (transitive)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.”

   “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: […]”

   “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 dashes”

5. (ambitransitive, figuratively, sometimes)To sprinkle; to splatter.

   “On each hand the gushing waters play, / And down the rough cascade white-dashing fall.”

   “The very source and fount of Day Is dash’d with wandering isles of night.”

   “[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.”

6. (dated, transitive)To mix, reduce, or adulterate, by throwing in something of an inferior quality.

   “to dash wine with water”

7. (transitive)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.”

8. (transitive)To dishearten; to sadden.

   “Her thoughts were dashed to melancholy.”

9. (transitive)To complete hastily.

   “He dashed down his eggs.”

   “She dashed off her homework.”

10. (transitive)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.”

    “Going out the door, he grabbed a windbreaker and dashed a note to his father and left it on the entry table.”

11. (dated, euphemistic, transitive)Damn (in forming oaths).

    “Dash his impudence! Who is that scoundrel?”

intj

1. (euphemistic)Damn!

name

1. A topographic surname.
2. (rare)A male given name transferred from the surname.
3. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP.
4. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.