Added 9 October 2026
stab
/stæb/ noun
In Latin: ictus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stab at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
-
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.
-
To thrust in a stabbing motion.
to stab a dagger into a person
-
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.
noun
- The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft.
adjective
- Clipping of established.
Origin
First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe. Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)