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stab
1[ stab ]
verb (used with object)
- to pierce or wound with or as if with a pointed weapon:
She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork.
- to thrust, plunge, or jab (a knife, pointed weapon, or the like) into something:
He stabbed the knife into the man's chest.
- to penetrate sharply or painfully:
Their misery stabbed his conscience.
- to make a piercing, thrusting, or pointing motion at or in:
He stabbed me in the chest with his finger.
The speaker stabbed the air in anger.
verb (used without object)
- to thrust with or as if with a knife or other pointed weapon:
to stab at an attacker.
- to deliver a wound, as with a pointed weapon.
stab.
2abbreviation for
- stabilization.
- stabilizer.
- stable.
stab
/ stæb /
verb
- tr to pierce or injure with a sharp pointed instrument
- tr (of a sharp pointed instrument) to pierce or wound
the knife stabbed her hand
- whenintr, often foll by at to make a thrust (at); jab
he stabbed at the doorway
- tr to inflict with a sharp pain
- stab in the back
- verb to do damage to the reputation of (a person, esp a friend) in a surreptitious way
- noun a treacherous action or remark that causes the downfall of or injury to a person
noun
- the act or an instance of stabbing
- an injury or rift made by stabbing
- a sudden sensation, esp an unpleasant one
a stab of pity
- informal.an attempt (esp in the phrase make a stab at )
Derived Forms
- ˈstabber, noun
Other Words From
- re·stab verb restabbed restabbing
- un·stabbed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of stab1
Word History and Origins
Origin of stab1
Idioms and Phrases
- a stab in the back, an act of treachery.
- stab (someone) in the back, to do harm to (someone), especially to a friend or to a person who is unsuspecting or in a defenseless position.
More idioms and phrases containing stab
In addition to the idiom beginning with stab , also see make a stab at .Example Sentences
The rising West Coast rapper was stabbed to death backstage at hip-hop festival Once Upon a Time in L.A.
You calmly accepted that advice on the doorstep and then, seconds later, savagely stabbed her eight times and ended her life.
Two weeks earlier, Kennedy and Yates allegedly stabbed to death Jonathan Rude, a convicted car thief from Butte County, according to officials.
He had been stabbed and beaten before being killed by gunshots to the face and chest.
One video dated 2019 showed a group of men punching and stabbing a fellow inmate for nearly 14 minutes before any staff showed up to intervene.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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