1745. Walpole to Mann, ii., 53. The Count may have procured for her
some dirty dab of a negotiation about some acre of territory more
for Hanover.
Adj. (colloquial).—1. Clever; skilled; expert.—See subs., sense 1. Fr.,
avoir le ponce long, or rond, i.e., ‘to have a long or round thumb.’
2. (back slang).—Bad. A dabheno, a bad market, day, or sale, Doogheno =
a good day, etc.; dab tros = a bad sort.
1877. Diprose, London Life. I’ve been doing awful dab with my tol
(lot) or stock, have’nt made a yennep (penny).
Rum-dabe, subs. (old).—The same as dab, subs., sense 1. [Rum (q.v.) is
Old Cant for ‘good.’]
Dab down, verbal phr. (common).—To pay; hand over; to ‘post’ or ‘shell
out’ (q.v. for synonyms).
To dab it up [with a woman], verbal phr. (old).—To pair off; to agree
to cohabitation.
Dabster, subs. (colloquial).—An expert or dab (q.v.).
1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple, ch. iii. ‘Not in the least like
the performance of an amateur dabster,’ remarked Jack Mallet,
admiringly. ‘Much more like the work of an old master for style and
finish.’