stab

stab1 [ stæb ] verb *

1. ) transitive to kill or hurt someone by pushing a knife or other sharp object into their body:

His brother was stabbed in the hand.

stab someone to death: One fan was stabbed to death in a fight between gangs.

a ) to push a sharp object quickly into something:

She stabbed the meat with her fork.

b ) stab or stab at intransitive or transitive to make a movement with your finger or another object as if you are stabbing something:

Here! she said, stabbing the book with her finger.

stab at: He stabbed at the paper with his pen.

2. ) intransitive or transitive if an unpleasant or negative feeling stabs you, you suddenly feel it very strongly

a ) if someone's words stab you, they make you feel suddenly very sad or afraid

stab someone in the back

to do something that is not loyal to someone who trusts you

stab

stab 2 [ stæb ] noun count

1. ) MAINLY LITERARY a sudden feeling of pain:

stab of: He felt a stab of pain from his wounded leg.

a ) a sudden feeling of a negative emotion:

stab of: a stab of jealousy/fear/disappointment

2. ) INFORMAL an attempt to do something, especially when you have no experience of doing it:

There have been stabs at regulating Web content.

make/take a stab at something: They decided to take a stab at fixing the car themselves.

3. ) an act of stabbing:

a stab wound

a stab in the back

behavior that is unkind and not loyal, especially from someone you trusted

a stab in the dark

a guess or attempt that is not based on knowledge or experience and is very likely to be wrong or to fail