Dash Meaning
/ˈdæʃ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAny of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar).
nounAny of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar)., A hyphen or minus sign.
Sentence Examples
Don't dash off a sloppily written report filled with mistakes.
After the rain had let up a bit, we made a dash for the car.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Add a small ____ of salt to the soup for extra flavor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't ____ off a sloppily written report filled with mistakes.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English daschen, dassen, from Danish daske (“to slap, strike”), related to Swedish daska (“to smack, slap, spank”), of obscure origin. Compare German tatschen (“to grope, paw”), Old English dwǣsċan (“to quell, put out, destroy, extinguish”). See also dush.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The oar squeaks,
a dash sound like
moon-hustle on the river:"
— 1987, Archie Randolph Ammons, “Coming Round”, in Robert Pack, Jay Parini, editors, Introspections: American poets on one of their own poems, Hanover and London: University Press of New England for Middlebury College Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 18:
"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"
— 2018 January 24, “Irrelevant Things”, performed by C1 from LTH:
"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."
— 1992, George Billy Nii Ayittey, Africa Betrayed, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 44:
"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.""
— 2006, Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, The Abolition of the Slave Trade in Southeastern Nigeria, 1885–1950 (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora; 25), University of Rochester Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 99:
"The only other times you'll be asked for a dash is from beggars."
— 2008, Lizzie Williams, updated by Mark Shenley, Nigeria: The Bradt Travel Guide, published 2012, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 109:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Add a small ____ of salt to the soup for extra flavor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Don't ____ off a sloppily written report filled with mistakes.