<p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) to strike or smash violently, especially so as to break to pieces: He dashed the plate into smithereens against the wall.</li><li>to throw or thrust violently or suddenly: to dash one stone against another.</li><li>to splash, often violently; bespatter (with water, mud, etc.): He recovered consciousness when they dashed water in his face.</li><li>to apply roughly, as by splashing: to dash paint here and there on the wall.</li><li>to mix or adulterate by adding another substance: to dash wine with water.</li><li>to ruin or frustrate (hopes, plans, etc.): The rain dashed our hopes for a picnic.</li><li>to depress; dispirit: The failure dashed his spirits.</li><li>to confound or abash: His rejection dashed and humiliated him.</li><li>(used without object) to strike with violence: The waves dashed against the cliff.</li><li>to move with violence; rush: The horses dashed out of the burning stable.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a small quantity of anything thrown into or mixed with something else: a dash of salt.</li><li>a hasty or sudden movement; a rush or sudden onset: They all made a dash for the door.</li><li>the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.</li><li>the throwing or splashing of liquid against something: the dash of the waves against the dock.</li><li>the sound of such splashing: The dash of the waves on the beach could be heard from afar.</li><li>spirited action; vigor in action or style; élan: The dancer performed with spirit and dash.</li><li>Track: a short race: a 100-yard dash.</li><li>dashboard (def).</li><li>Telegraphy: a signal of longer duration than a dot, used in groups of dots, dashes, and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.</li><li>a hasty stroke, especially of a pen.</li><li>Archaic: a violent and rapid blow or stroke.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb Phrase</strong></p><ul><li>to hurry away; leave: I must dash off now. Also dash down.</li><li>to write, make, accomplish, etc., hastily: We dashed off a letter to announce the news. He dashed down a memo.</li></ul>