English▸ noun a dance move or gesture, originating in hip hop and often performed as part of a celebration, in which one arm is bent at an angle across the upper chest while the other is fully extended parallel to the first arm, with the face turned towards the bent elbow:
his signature dab
he celebrated on the court by doing the dab.
▸ verb [no object] perform a dance move or gesture in which one arm is bent at an angle across the chest while the other is fully extended parallel to the first arm, with the face turned towards the bent elbow:
the player who dabs after touchdowns.
– ORIGIN early 21st century: possibly related to dab (sense 1 of the noun)1 in the sense ‘a small portion of cannabis oil or resin’.