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Dab

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Clever, skilled, as “a dabhand at it”; a corrupt contraction of the Latin adeptus (an adept). “Dabster” is another form. Apt is a related word.        

“An Eton stripling, training for the law,

A dunce at learning, but a dab at law [marbles].”

1


Anon.: Logic: or, The Biter Bit

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Cypriote
D
D or d
D
D.O.M
D.T
Da Capo or D.C
Dab
Dab, Din
Dabaira
Dabbat [the Beast]
Dabble
Dabchick
Dactyl (Will)
Dactyls (The)
Dad or Daddy
Daddy Long-legs
Dædalos