stab

verb8

1. •
   to cut into someone's body with the point of a knife or a similar weapon

   • If you stab him in the heart he won't live long enough to retaliate.
2. •
   To thrust in a stabbing motion.
3. •
   To recklessly hit with the tip of a (usually pointed) object, such as a weapon or finger (often used with at).

   • He stabbed at my face with the twig but luckily kept missing my eyes.
4. •
   To cause a sharp, painful sensation (often used with at).

   • The snow from the blizzard was stabbing at my face as I skied down the mountain.
5. •
   (figurative) To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander.
6. •
   To guide the end of a pipe into a coupling when making up a connection.

   • [O]ne of the derrickman's jobs is to "stab" the pipe. — 2005
7. •
   To roughen a brick wall with a pick so as to hold plaster.
8. •
   To pierce folded sheets, near their back edges, for the passage of thread or wire.

noun9

1. •
   An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object to hurt or kill someone.

   • A knife was flashing in his hand, and just as he was about to take a stab at me, the smith grabbed his arm from behind. — 1979
2. •
   (informal) An attempt.

   • I'll give this thankless task a stab.
3. •
   A wound made by stabbing.

   • I opened the man's linen robe, and there over his heart was a dagger-wound, and beneath the woman's fair breast was a like cruel stab, through which her life had ebbed away. — 1886
4. •
   Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.

   • “I bet you two have really big plans. And might I say, that is just fab,” he said of Lynn's dress. “I'm glad someone noticed,” she replied, seeming to take a stab at me. — 2001
5. •
   Criticism.
6. •
   A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.
7. •
   (slang) The horizontal or vertical stabilizer of an aircraft.

   • If the pilots used electric pitch trim, it would only pause MCAS for 5s; to deactivate it you have to switch off the STAB TRIM CUTOUT switches. — 2020
8. •
   A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire.
9. •
   Clipping of establishment.

   • […] there were 286 overseers and 210 readers occupied in the 501 offices; 2,691 compositors were paid on the stab […] — 1892

adjective1

1. •
   Clipping of established.

   • Do you know whether any country offices pay their men by the thousand, or whether they are on stab wages? — I do not know. Some are paid stab wages, but I do not know whether there is much piece-work. — 1893

noun1

1. •
   (slang) A 50% damage boost applied when a Pokémon uses a move with the same type as itself (for example, an Electric-type Pokémon using an Electric-type move).