dashing

Pluraldashings

1. 1
   adjective

   Spirited and bold, carrying an air of lively, energetic confidence.

   Like a swashbuckling adventurer who leaps into danger with a grin.

   The dashing cavalry officer charged ahead of his troops.

   His dashing confidence made the risky plan seem possible.

   Similarbold, spirited, gallant, daring, swashbuckling

   Oppositetimid, meek

   Note

   The adjective grew straight out of the verb's participle. Middle English had daschande, built from dash plus -ing, so a dashing figure is first of all one who rushes forward. As an adjective it compares with more and most, never with -er or -est. You can speak of a more dashing rider or the most dashing officer in the regiment.

2. 2
   adjective

   Stylish and fashionable, with an attractively elegant appearance.

   The groom looked positively dashing in his tailored tuxedo.

   She arrived in a dashing outfit that turned every head.

   Similarstylish, debonair, elegant, handsome, smart

   Oppositedowdy, scruffy, shabby

   Note

   Here the praise is for how someone looks rather than what they dare. The two meanings often blur: when all heads turn as a dashing young man enters a room, his style and his confidence are hard to pull apart. Ask what is being admired. A tuxedo or an entrance points here, while a charge or a gamble points to the bold, spirited meaning.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of dash.

   The waiter kept dashing between the kitchen and the crowded tables.

   Dashing across a busy road without looking is a good way to get hurt.

   Note

   The verb form shares its spelling with the adjective, so the sentence decides which one you have. The verb takes an object or a direction, as in dashing across the road or dashing a glass against the wall. The adjective takes very or more, as in a very dashing officer. One dated transitive use means to adulterate, as in dashing a drink with something cheaper.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of rushing suddenly, or of striking or throwing something with violent force.

   The dashing of the boat against the reef alarmed the crew.

   The constant dashing to and fro wore down the messengers.

   Similarsmashing, rushing

   Note

   A separate Middle English word, dasshyng, lies behind the noun, apart from the adjective's daschande. It works both as a mass noun and as a count noun. The steady dashing of waves is continuous action, while the plural dashings counts separate blows or rushes. It most often sits before an of-phrase naming what is thrown or struck, as in the dashing of a boat against the reef.

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