stab

CEFRB2

/stæb/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To push a sharp object into something or someone.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A wound made by stabbing.

Examples

  • Scissors are meant for cutting but can also be used to stab.

  • There's no telling when she'll stab you in the back.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object.

  2. An attempt.

More examples

In context

  • I'll give this thankless task a stab.

  • If you stab him in the heart he won't live long enough to retaliate.

  • He stabbed at my face with the twig but luckily kept missing my eyes.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In a dangerous fight, the criminal tried to blank the victim with a knife.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe. Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.