<p><strong>Verb (used without object):</strong></p><ul><li>Dabbled, dabbling.</li><li>To play and splash in or as if in water, especially with the hands.</li><li>To work at anything in an irregular or superficial manner: to dabble in literature.</li><li>Synonyms: dally, toy, fiddle, putter.</li><li>(Of a duck) to feed on shallow-water vegetation with rapid, splashing movements of the bill.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object):</strong></p><ul><li>Dabbled, dabbling.</li><li>To wet slightly in or with a liquid; splash; spatter.</li><li>Chiefly South Midland U.S.: to wash or rinse off lightly.</li></ul>