daub

[dawb] /dɔb/
verb (used with object)
1.
to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud:
to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.
2.
to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something:
to daub plaster on a brick wall.
3.
to smear, soil, or defile.
4.
to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.
verb (used without object)
5.
to daub something.
6.
to paint unskillfully.
noun
7.
material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
8.
something daubed on.
9.
an act of daubing.
10.
a crude, inartistic painting.
Origin
1275-1325; (v.) Middle English dauben < Anglo-French, Old French dauber to whiten, paint < Latin dealbāre, equivalent to de-, prevocalic variant of dē- de- + albāre to whiten, derivative of albus white; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.
Related forms
dauber, noun
daubingly, adverb
dauby, adjective
undaubed, adjective
Examples from the web for daub
  • Some daub their faces with brightly colored zinc protective cream.
  • His body is covered with both bacteria and amino acids, all of which his make-up artists lovingly daub.
  • daub mealybugs on houseplants with a swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.
  • But her lovely, smiling features are quite unrecognizable in this clumsy daub.
  • The committee put a red daub on the map to indicate trouble.
British Dictionary definitions for daub

daub

/dɔːb/
verb
1.
(transitive) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly
2.
(transitive) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly
3.
to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly
noun
4.
an unskilful or crude painting
5.
something daubed on, esp as a wall covering See also wattle and daub
6.
a smear (of paint, mud, etc)
7.
the act of daubing
Derived Forms
dauber, noun
dauby, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Old French dauber to paint, whitewash, from Latin dealbāre, from albāre to whiten, from albus white
Word Origin and History for daub
v.

late 14c. (Dauber as a surname is recorded from mid-13c.), from Old French dauber "to whitewash, plaster" (13c.), perhaps from Latin dealbare, from de- "thoroughly" + albare "to whiten," from albus "white" (see alb). Painting sense is from 1620s. Related: Daubed; daubing. As a noun, from mid-15c.