1. To spread paint or another substance over something in rough patches or smears.
2. A small patch or smear of paint, mud, or another thick substance.
3. A painting judged to be crude, clumsy, or lacking artistic skill.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- daub paint on
- daub a wall with slogans
- daub with mud
On the page
Someone had daubed a crude arrow on the shed door.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- daub
- Past tense
- daubed
- Past participle
- daubed
- Present participle
- daubing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- daub
- Present continuous
- am/is/are daubing
- Present perfect
- have/has daubed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been daubing
- Past
- daubed
- Past continuous
- was/were daubing
- Past perfect
- had daubed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been daubing
- Future
- will daub
- Future continuous
- will be daubing
- Future perfect
- will have daubed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been daubing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: daub; daubs; daubed; daubed; daubing. Noun singular daub; plural daubs.. Noun singular daub; plural daubs. Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Cambridge count smear and MW verb/noun/crude artwork evidence; building material is a separate useful overflow sense flagged. Writing functions: precise action, characterization. Third-person singular: daubs.
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