Library / English Dictionary

DART

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sudden quick movement

Synonyms:

dart; flit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("dart" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

dart (move with sudden speed)

dart (move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart)

dart (run or move very quickly or hastily)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tapered tuck made in dressmaking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("dart" is a kind of...):

tuck (a narrow flattened pleat or fold that is stitched in place)

Holonyms ("dart" is a part of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("dart" is a kind of...):

missile; projectile (a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dart"):

banderilla (a decorated dart that is implanted in the neck or shoulders of the bull during a bull fight)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move with sudden speed

Example:

His forefinger darted in all directions as he spoke

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "dart" is one way to...):

hurl; hurtle; lunge; thrust (make a thrusting forward movement)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

dart (a sudden quick movement)

darter (a person or other animal that moves abruptly and rapidly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

Example:

The hummingbird flitted among the branches

Synonyms:

dart; fleet; flit; flutter

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "dart" is one way to...):

hurry; speed; travel rapidly; zip (move very fast)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dart"):

butterfly (flutter like a butterfly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

dart (a sudden quick movement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Run or move very quickly or hastily

Example:

She dashed into the yard

Synonyms:

dart; dash; flash; scoot; scud; shoot

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "dart" is one way to...):

belt along; bucket along; cannonball along; hasten; hie; hotfoot; pelt along; race; rush; rush along; speed; step on it (move hurridly)

Verb group:

buck; charge; shoot; shoot down; tear (move quickly and violently)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dart"):

plunge (dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

dart (a sudden quick movement)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Then he put him back into the water, and the fish darted straight down to the bottom, and left a long streak of blood behind him on the wave.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

This bacteria exhibits darting motility by single polar flagella, does not hydrolyze esculin, is indole and urease negative and shows susceptibility to nalidixic acid.

(Arcobacter cryaerophilus, NCI Thesaurus)

She darted across to a writing-desk, unlocked it, and drew out a long blue envelope.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thorpe would have darted after her, but Morland withheld him.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Hardly was it shut when Mrs. Challenger darted out from the dining-room.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Ha, my little heart of gold!” he cried, darting forward suddenly and throwing his arms round Sir Nigel.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

At his signal, Freya darts across the lab room floor and sniffs a collection of small open mason jars.

(The Dog's Nose Knows Malaria, Kevin Enochs/VOA)

Imagination can figure nothing so grand, so surprising, and so astonishing! it looked as if ten thousand flashes of lightning were darting at the same time from every quarter of the sky.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)