Stab
verb
To push a sharp object into or through something.
He stabbed the piece of fruit with his knife.
Often appears as...
- stab someone in the back
- stab at
verb
To cause emotional pain to someone.
The news about his father's illness stabbed him to the core.
Often appears as...
- stab someone in the heart
- stab of pain
Usage tips
Disapproving
Idiomatic
noun
An attempt to do something.
He made a stab at answering the question.
Often appears as...
- make a stab at
- stab in the dark
Usage tips
Idiomatic
verb
To betray someone.
I trusted him completely, but he stabbed me in the back.
Often appears as...
- stab in the back
- stab someone in the back
Usage tips
Disapproving
Idiomatic
verb
To push a sharp object into or through something.
He stabbed the piece of fruit with his knife.
Often appears as...
- stab someone in the back
- stab at
verb
To cause emotional pain to someone.
The news about his father's illness stabbed him to the core.
Often appears as...
- stab someone in the heart
- stab of pain
Usage tips
Disapproving
Idiomatic
noun
An attempt to do something.
He made a stab at answering the question.
Often appears as...
- make a stab at
- stab in the dark
Usage tips
Idiomatic
verb
To betray someone.
I trusted him completely, but he stabbed me in the back.
Often appears as...
- stab in the back
- stab someone in the back
Usage tips
Disapproving
Idiomatic
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Action
Stabbing is a violent action often associated with crime or cooking.
The chef warned us not to stab at the meat too harshly.
Pro Tip 2/3Visual Imagery
Use 'stab' to describe a sudden, quick motion with a sharp object.
She stabbed the air with her finger to emphasize her point.
Pro Tip 3/3Violent Connotation
Using 'stab' may evoke a sense of violence or aggression, triggering a strong emotional response.
The movie scene where he stabs the villain was quite shocking.
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Action
Stabbing is a violent action often associated with crime or cooking.
The chef warned us not to stab at the meat too harshly.
Pro Tip 2/3Visual Imagery
Use 'stab' to describe a sudden, quick motion with a sharp object.
She stabbed the air with her finger to emphasize her point.
Pro Tip 3/3Violent Connotation
Using 'stab' may evoke a sense of violence or aggression, triggering a strong emotional response.
The movie scene where he stabs the villain was quite shocking.
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Action
Stabbing is a violent action often associated with crime or cooking.
The chef warned us not to stab at the meat too harshly.
Pro Tip 2/3Visual Imagery
Use 'stab' to describe a sudden, quick motion with a sharp object.
She stabbed the air with her finger to emphasize her point.
Pro Tip 3/3Violent Connotation
Using 'stab' may evoke a sense of violence or aggression, triggering a strong emotional response.
The movie scene where he stabs the villain was quite shocking.
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Video examples
The sneakiest tricksters...
But it’s still driven to protect its home against rivals. So it has become a masterful bluffer. Despite being fragile, a newly molted shrimp is actually more likely to threaten intruders, spreading the large limbs it usually uses to strike or stab its opponents. And that works –
Video examples
Why do we see illusions?...
because they're just static images on the page, they're not changing like in real life. And let me just end by showing one illusion here. If I can, I'll quickly show two. This one's fun. If you just fixate at the middle there, and make stabbing motions with your head,
Video examples
The princess who rewrote...
Unfortunately, it didn’t help. Not only was his army defeated, but as they fled, the Emperor was stabbed in the buttocks. To make matters worse, a strong wind made the relic too heavy to carry, so he stashed it in some bushes as he escaped. But even as he fled,
Video examples
What causes headaches? -...
cause burning, stabbing bursts of pain behind one eye, leading to a red eye, constricted pupil, and drooping eyelid. What can be done about these conditions, which dramatically affect many people’s quality of life? Tension headaches and most secondary cases
Video examples
Could You Pass the...
people say that I don't have the courage to do it I have and I will do it the men face the prospect of getting stung even before the ritual starts when they head off to capture the ants a stab from this predators abdominal spear is 30 times
Video examples
Violence is a failure of...
she died he felt like he had lost the only person in the world who cared for him he ended up on the streets robbing stabbing and eventually going to prison and when he was in prison he decided that he wanted to come out and
Video examples
The price of shame PIPE...
Millions of people, often anonymously, can stab you with their words, and that's a lot of pain. And there are no perimeters around how many people can publicly observe you and put you in a public stockade.
Video examples
Initiation With Ants PIPE...
have the courage to do it I have and I will do it the men face the prospect of getting stung even before the ritual starts when they head off to capture the ants a stab from this predators
Video examples
Slo-Mo Deadly Viper...
incredible absolutely incredible saw that the mouth open almost said that it was fully wide like that almost creating a stabbing kind of shape rather than
Video examples
Angry Hippos Fight for...
Forward-pointing tusks can stab right through protective blubber.
Video examples
The sneakiest tricksters...
But it’s still driven to protect its home against rivals. So it has become a masterful bluffer. Despite being fragile, a newly molted shrimp is actually more likely to threaten intruders, spreading the large limbs it usually uses to strike or stab its opponents. And that works –
Video examples
Why do we see illusions?...
because they're just static images on the page, they're not changing like in real life. And let me just end by showing one illusion here. If I can, I'll quickly show two. This one's fun. If you just fixate at the middle there, and make stabbing motions with your head,
Video examples
The princess who rewrote...
Unfortunately, it didn’t help. Not only was his army defeated, but as they fled, the Emperor was stabbed in the buttocks. To make matters worse, a strong wind made the relic too heavy to carry, so he stashed it in some bushes as he escaped. But even as he fled,
Video examples
What causes headaches? -...
cause burning, stabbing bursts of pain behind one eye, leading to a red eye, constricted pupil, and drooping eyelid. What can be done about these conditions, which dramatically affect many people’s quality of life? Tension headaches and most secondary cases
Video examples
Could You Pass the...
people say that I don't have the courage to do it I have and I will do it the men face the prospect of getting stung even before the ritual starts when they head off to capture the ants a stab from this predators abdominal spear is 30 times
Video examples
Violence is a failure of...
she died he felt like he had lost the only person in the world who cared for him he ended up on the streets robbing stabbing and eventually going to prison and when he was in prison he decided that he wanted to come out and
Video examples
The price of shame PIPE...
Millions of people, often anonymously, can stab you with their words, and that's a lot of pain. And there are no perimeters around how many people can publicly observe you and put you in a public stockade.
Video examples
Initiation With Ants PIPE...
have the courage to do it I have and I will do it the men face the prospect of getting stung even before the ritual starts when they head off to capture the ants a stab from this predators
Video examples
Slo-Mo Deadly Viper...
incredible absolutely incredible saw that the mouth open almost said that it was fully wide like that almost creating a stabbing kind of shape rather than
Video examples
Angry Hippos Fight for...
Forward-pointing tusks can stab right through protective blubber.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Roddy Piper
Canadian Athlete
You've got to realize, I've been stabbed three times; I'm not too used to this kind of love from people. It has been unbelievable the amount of support I've gotten. I'm getting letters, packages, e-mails, and phone calls from so many people. It's just overwhelming.
Quote examples
Andre Gray
English Footballer
I didn't have time to worry about the great big scar on my face, I just had to be relieved I hadn't been stabbed in the eye or the neck. I had to accept what had happened and move on and football helped me to do that.
Quote examples
Maria Shriver
American Journalist
One of my greatest joys is poetry. I read it almost every day, and I've even taken a stab at writing some of my own. A poem I wrote for my mother when she was dying really helped me get through that hard time.
Quote examples
Daisy Fuentes
Cuban Actress
It is nasty. You can think that you know someone in this business and you really don't. You can be stabbed in the back very easily. You can be praised very easily. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do.
Quote examples
Odette Annable
American Actress
If women just got into it a little more, then the world would be happier. Instead of stabbing each other behind the back, just get into a fight, and then everything is out in the open.
Quote examples
Rodney Crowell
Algerian Musician
I've often said to young songwriters when they want to write with me, 'Let's take a stab at ten songs, and we might get one really good one.
Quote examples
Spencer Stone
American Soldier
I never thought I'd ever get stabbed in my life. The fact that it happened twice within, like, a two-month period is pretty insane.
Quote examples
Jack Kerouac
American Novelist
A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
Quote examples
Ajith Kumar
Indian Actor
I know that there are people in the industry who praise me in person and then stab me in the back.
Quote examples
Rick Baker
American Inventor
I find it kind of disturbing when people cheer when someone just gets stabbed brutally.
Quote examples
Roddy Piper
Canadian Athlete
You've got to realize, I've been stabbed three times; I'm not too used to this kind of love from people. It has been unbelievable the amount of support I've gotten. I'm getting letters, packages, e-mails, and phone calls from so many people. It's just overwhelming.
Quote examples
Andre Gray
English Footballer
I didn't have time to worry about the great big scar on my face, I just had to be relieved I hadn't been stabbed in the eye or the neck. I had to accept what had happened and move on and football helped me to do that.
Quote examples
Maria Shriver
American Journalist
One of my greatest joys is poetry. I read it almost every day, and I've even taken a stab at writing some of my own. A poem I wrote for my mother when she was dying really helped me get through that hard time.
Quote examples
Daisy Fuentes
Cuban Actress
It is nasty. You can think that you know someone in this business and you really don't. You can be stabbed in the back very easily. You can be praised very easily. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do.
Quote examples
Odette Annable
American Actress
If women just got into it a little more, then the world would be happier. Instead of stabbing each other behind the back, just get into a fight, and then everything is out in the open.
Quote examples
Rodney Crowell
Algerian Musician
I've often said to young songwriters when they want to write with me, 'Let's take a stab at ten songs, and we might get one really good one.
Quote examples
Spencer Stone
American Soldier
I never thought I'd ever get stabbed in my life. The fact that it happened twice within, like, a two-month period is pretty insane.
Quote examples
Jack Kerouac
American Novelist
A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
Quote examples
Ajith Kumar
Indian Actor
I know that there are people in the industry who praise me in person and then stab me in the back.
Quote examples
Rick Baker
American Inventor
I find it kind of disturbing when people cheer when someone just gets stabbed brutally.
Example 1 of 10
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