stabs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of stab.

   Sudden stabs of guilt kept her awake that night.

   After a few failed stabs at the recipe, he ordered takeout instead.

   Note

   One spelling covers several very different nouns: the wounds a coroner counts, the hurts dealt to someone's feelings, and the informal attempts someone makes at a task. Context usually sorts them, and the attempts reveal themselves by taking at, as in several stabs at the recipe. Musicians use the plural as well, for a series of sharp staccato chords. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, as in she stabs.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of stab.

   The fencer stabs toward her opponent's shoulder in a quick lunge.

   A sharp pain stabs through his knee every time he climbs the stairs.

   Note

   The -s form carries every use of the verb, and its construction shows which one is meant. With a direct object it is the act of wounding (he stabs the intruder) or, figuratively, of injuring someone by slander. With at it becomes a reckless jab, or a pain that stabs at the chest. Builders have their own use: a mason stabs a brick wall, roughening it with a pick so plaster will hold.

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