dash

/dæʃ/

/dæʃ/

Other forms: dashed; dashing; dashes

When you dash, you run a short distance very quickly. If you forget your lunch in the morning, you might try to dash home, grab it, and dash back to school.

This word can be used in many ways. When your dog chases your cat, they dash around the house — and you can call this sprint itself a dash. When you use the punctuation mark known as a dash, you write a horizontal line ( — ) to mark a pause, a change, or an omitted word. As a verb, dash can also mean to destroy, as when unusually warm weather dashes your hopes of a snowy holiday, or to smash, as when you dash a coconut against a rock to break it open.

Definitions of dash

1. verb

   run or move very quickly or hastily
   “She dashed into the yard”

   synonyms: dart, flash, scoot, scud, shoot

   buck, charge, shoot, shoot down, tear

   move quickly and violently

   types:

   plunge

   dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity

   type of:

   belt along, bucket along, cannonball along, hasten, hie, hotfoot, pelt along, race, rush, rush along, speed, step on it

   move fast
2. noun

   a quick run
   synonyms: sprint

   types:

   break

   a sudden dash

   fast break

   (basketball) a rapid dash to get a shot as soon as possible after taking possession of the ball

   type of:

   run, running

   the act of running; traveling on foot at a fast pace
3. noun

   the act of moving with great haste
   “he made a dash for the door”

   synonyms: bolt

   type of:

   haste, hurry, rush, rushing

   the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
4. noun

   a footrace run at top speed
   “he is preparing for the 100-yard dash”

   type of:

   track event

   a footrace performed on a track (indoor or outdoor)
5. verb

   hurl or thrust violently
   “He dashed the plate against the wall”

   “Waves were dashing against the rock”

   synonyms: crash

   type of:

   cast, hurl, hurtle

   throw forcefully
6. verb

   destroy or break
   “dashed ambitions and hopes”

   type of:

   baffle, bilk, confound, cross, foil, frustrate, queer, scotch, scuttle, spoil, thwart

   hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
7. verb

   break into pieces, as by striking or knocking over
   synonyms: smash

   smash

   break suddenly into pieces, as from a violent blow

   types:

   blast, knock down

   shatter as if by explosion

   type of:

   break

   destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
8. verb

   cause to lose courage
   “dashed by the refusal”

   synonyms: daunt, frighten away, frighten off, pall, scare, scare away, scare off

   type of:

   intimidate, restrain

   compel or deter by or as if by threats
9. verb

   add an enlivening or altering element to
   “blue paint dashed with white”

   type of:

   mix, mix in

   add as an additional element or part
10. noun

    distinctive and stylish elegance
    “he wooed her with the confident dash of a cavalry officer”

    synonyms: elan, flair, panache, style

    type of:

    elegance

    a refined quality of gracefulness and good taste
11. noun

    a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text
    synonyms: hyphen

    type of:

    punctuation, punctuation mark

    the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases
12. noun

    the longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code
    synonyms: dah

    type of:

    radiotelegraphic signal, telegraphic signal

    a signal transmitted by telegraphy