1
as in to stain
to make dirty
a tablecloth daubed with too many spills to ignore any longer
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2
as in to smear
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
he begins his nightly transformation into a circus clown by daubing greasepaint on his face
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as in drawing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of daub
Tanvi Chheda, AFAR Media, 17 Jan. 2025
The paintings of Mickalene Thomas are big, bold, gaudy, and beautiful, embedded with rhinestones, daubed with phosphorescent color, and composed like crazy quilts.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024
The little daubs that represent passersby are miracles of characterization.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
See All Example Sentences for daub
Verb
The burial ground and temple were unearthed when someone tried to build a drainage channel for a modern house; to prevent the dampness of visitors’ breath from damaging the extraordinary artworks daubed on the walls, entry is limited to 80 people per day.
—Tanvi Chheda, AFAR Media, 17 Jan. 2025
The paintings of Mickalene Thomas are big, bold, gaudy, and beautiful, embedded with rhinestones, daubed with phosphorescent color, and composed like crazy quilts.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
Much as the eye might want to blot out the offending image, Photoshop it out of existence and daub more verdancy onto this screen-saver panorama, the reality of human habitation, and its concomitant messiness, must be reckoned.
—Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024
The little daubs that represent passersby are miracles of characterization.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
See All Example Sentences for daub
Recent Examples of Synonyms for daub
Verb
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If Bonhoeffer’s example is used to justify more far-right Christian violence in America, that would be another tragedy — and a cruel irony that would stain the legacy of a man who gave up everything to confront a tyrant.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2025
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Pérez's manager, Enrique Paulino, spoke to reporters at the scene, his shirt stained with blood.—
Gordon G. Chang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Timothy Martin smeared red and black paint on a case shielding a nearly 150-year-old sculpture by Edgar Degas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2025
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Martin and a companion on April 27, 2023, entered the Washington, DC, museum and smeared washable red and black paint on the case protecting Edgar Degas’s 1881 Little Dancer Aged Fourteen in an effort to bring attention to the climate crisis.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The eighty-one-year-old Crumb, dressed in a long dark coat and his trademark fedora and Coke-bottle glasses, looked over his drawings as if trying to place old acquaintances at a party.—
Bruce Handy,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
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Walz, who has worked many years as a special-education teacher, infuses his drawings with energy, with Theo free falling, sometimes upside down, in a palette of grays and maroons.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
13 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Juicy, whole lobster served grilled or blackened is best, though the menu at this famous haunt features every possible elaboration of the dish.—
Carley Rojas Avila,
Travel + Leisure,
20 Apr. 2025
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Photo : Andrew Pogue The compact kitchen sports blackened stainless-steel counters.—
Tori Latham,
Robb Report,
16 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Include a beginner's guide to painting to encourage new techniques.—
Jené Luciani Sena,
FOXNews.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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In addition, fans are excited to pick up official miniatures to paint and portray desperate battles between humans and Xenomorphs on the table top.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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While body makeup was at play, the actor — whose tats range from tributes to old girlfriends to a portrait of Hillary Clinton — is well on his way to a clean slate.—
Brittany Talarico,
People.com,
21 Apr. 2025
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But in the broader context, the sequence depicted something deeper — a portrait of a Thunder team that isn’t just young and talented but wired to compete on every possession, down to the final buzzer.—
Darnell Mayberry,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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For example, a small non-shedding dog that rarely goes outside won't dirty a bed nearly as fast as a large labarador that plays outside daily.—
Halee Miller Van Ryswyk,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Apr. 2025
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Grease dirtied the handles of the ovens, the microwave ovens and the coolers.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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It’s entirely made of cotton that has been coated with polyvinyl to create a sturdy material with the look of pebbled leather, which is as water-resistant and stain-repellent as hide.—
Miles Walls,
Better Homes & Gardens,
20 Apr. 2025
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Its dust-laden winds can create visibility issues for aviation and reduce the efficiency of solar farms by coating photovoltaic panels with dust and haze.—
Christophe Lavaysse,
JSTOR Daily,
17 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Daub.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/daub. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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