stab

noun

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

   “A knife was flashing in his hand, and just as he was about to take a stab at me, the smith grabbed his arm from behind.”

2. A wound made by stabbing.

   “I opened the man's linen robe, and there over his heart was a dagger-wound, and beneath the woman's fair breast was a like cruel stab, through which her life had ebbed away.”

3. Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.

   ““I bet you two have really big plans. And might I say, that is just fab,” he said of Lynn's dress. “I'm glad someone noticed,” she replied, seeming to take a stab at me.”

4. (informal)An attempt.

   “I'll give this thankless task a stab.”

   “As yet, we don't know what the comparable figures will be like for the current financial year which ends in March 2022, but we can have a good stab at approximating them.”

5. Criticism.
6. A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.

   “a horn stab”

7. A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire.
8. (slang)The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft.

   “If the pilots used electric pitch trim, it would only pause MCAS for 5s; to deactivate it you have to switch off the STAB TRIM CUTOUT switches.”

9. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, no-plural)Clipping of establishment.

   “[…] there were 286 overseers and 210 readers occupied in the 501 offices; 2,691 compositors were paid on the stab […]”

10. (slang, uncountable)A 50% damage boost applied when a Pokémon uses a move with the same type as itself (for example, an Electric-type Pokémon using an Electric-type move).

verb

1. (transitive)To pierce or to wound (somebody) with a (usually pointed) tool or weapon, especially a knife or dagger.

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

   “"There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom.[…]"”

2. (transitive)To thrust in a stabbing motion.

   “to stab a dagger into a person”

3. (intransitive)To recklessly hit with the tip of a (usually pointed) object, such as a weapon or finger (often used with at).

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

   “None shall dare / With shortened sword to stab in closer war.”

   “Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.”

4. (intransitive)To cause a sharp, painful sensation (often used with at).

   “The snow from the blizzard was stabbing at my face as I skied down the mountain.”

5. (figuratively, transitive)To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander.

   “to stab a person's reputation”

6. (transitive)To roughen a brick wall with a pick so as to hold plaster.
7. (transitive)To pierce folded sheets, near their back edges, for the passage of thread or wire.
8. (transitive)To guide the end of a pipe into a coupling when making up a connection.

   “[O]ne of the derrickman's jobs is to "stab" the pipe.”

adj

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, not-comparable)Clipping of established.

   “Do you know whether any country offices pay their men by the thousand, or whether they are on stab wages? — I do not know. Some are paid stab wages, but I do not know whether there is much piece-work.”

   “The pressmen were granted a stab wage of 36s for a 60 hour week, and the extras for overtime and Sunday work […]”