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Definition of jab verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

jab

verb
 
/dʒæb/
 
/dʒæb/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they jab
 
/dʒæb/
 
/dʒæb/
he / she / it jabs
 
/dʒæbz/
 
/dʒæbz/
past simple jabbed
 
/dʒæbd/
 
/dʒæbd/
past participle jabbed
 
/dʒæbd/
 
/dʒæbd/
-ing form jabbing
 
/ˈdʒæbɪŋ/
 
/ˈdʒæbɪŋ/
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  1. [transitive, intransitive] to push a pointed object into somebody/something, or in the direction of somebody/something, with a sudden strong movement synonym prod
    • jab somebody/something (in something) (with something) She jabbed him in the ribs with her finger.
    • jab something in something She jabbed her finger in his ribs.
    • jab (at somebody/something) (with something) He jabbed at the picture with his finger.
    • The boxer jabbed at his opponent.
    Extra Examples
    • He jabbed a finger in her direction.
    • She started jabbing at the calculator.
  2. [transitive, often passive] jab somebody (against something) (British English, informal) to vaccinate somebody against a disease
    • He refused to say whether he had been jabbed against Covid.
    • Over 80% of the population had been double-jabbed (= had had two vaccinations against Covid-19)
    Topics Healthcarec1
  3. Word Originearly 19th cent. (originally Scots): variant of job ‘prod or stab’.
See jab in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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