Noun : a dab of butter. ,a dab of powder.    From Dictionary.com. 

Verb (used without object) : She dabbed at the stain on her dress.    From Dictionary.com. 

Verb (used with object) : The child dabbed his eyes with the handkerchief. ,He dabbed the ointment on the rash. ,Joe dabbed his rope on the steer.    From Dictionary.com. 

His wife, on the other hand, she was dabbing her eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 6, 2007] Reference

Rindy was whimpering, dabbing smeary fists at her face.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Door Through Space] Reference

Apparently, one of the alternates was dabbing her eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript May 27, 2005] Reference

They were seen taking some Kleenex and dabbing their eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jun 13, 2005] Reference

    “Well I'm Hillary,” she repeats, dabbing her eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Wedding] Reference

Do not rub hard, and dry by dabbing gently with a soft cloth.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fowler's Household Helps Over 300 Useful and Valuable Helps About the Home, Carefully Compiled and Arranged in Convenient Form for Frequent Use] Reference

Green straightened up, dabbing his forehead with a white cloth.    From Wordnik.com.  [Praise Be To Al Green] Reference

And I suppose, "she added, dabbing impatiently at her eyes," all.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point Or a Wreck and a Rescue] Reference

 When I came to, Janice was dabbing at my eye with a cold cloth.    From Wordnik.com.  [No Pretty Boy] Reference

Jessie, dabbing her eyes with a square inch or so of handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lucile Triumphant] Reference

And the one kept dabbing at her eyes but there were no tears there.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Apr 17, 2008] Reference

It was while Hippolyte was dabbing his cheeks with a damp towel that.    From Wordnik.com.  [Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-02-18] Reference

"Don't mind me," he said, dabbing with the handkerchief at his eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [Spring Street A Story of Los Angeles] Reference

Mollie apologized, dabbing at Bab with her small pocket handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail] Reference

           Poor Jimmy was dabbing the mustard off his shirt.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Great San Francisco Poetry Wars, 2] Reference

Luke was dabbing the pointer carefully at the bald top of Weaver's head.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Worshippers] Reference

She laughed a little hysterically, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [Other People's Business The Romantic Career of the Practical Miss Dale] Reference

She repeated it twice, before dabbing away the blood welling from the cuts.    From Wordnik.com.  [h] Reference

She was dabbing her face from time to time with a handkerchief or a kleenex.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Sep 11, 2002] Reference

dabbing, dabbing - I have to say, this is nothing like Monet, can't touch it.    From Wordnik.com.  [Monet's Canvas Cathedrals: A Life Study Of Light] Reference

ANDERSON: She had Kathie Lee Gifford dabbing her eyes with a sock on "Today.".    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Apr 16, 2009] Reference

Holmes pulled out his handkerchief and began dabbing at the map in disapproval.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Moor]

Thank goodness my nephew was able to get up the spots by dabbing with a wet cloth.    From Wordnik.com.  [Joanne Herman: A Wedding Just for the Kids] Reference

A few of them caught dabbing tears from their eyes and trying to fight back crying.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Apr 11, 2006] Reference

And I don't know if he was yawning, if he was tired, but he was dabbing his cheeks.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jan 20, 2009] Reference

As she caught sight of him she began dabbing her eyes hastily with her handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Wrong Woman] Reference

Lightly dabbing her eyelids with a pocket powder-puff, she went back to the cottage.    From Wordnik.com.  [Secret Bread] Reference

'I'm only Betty,' she said, dabbing her face with her handkerchief; 'are you an angel?'.    From Wordnik.com.  [Odd] Reference

The fat man sat in the street, dabbing at his bleeding nose, the panama still in place.    From Wordnik.com.  [It Could Be Anything] Reference

Her hand was dabbing furtively at her face for a purpose which Pierre could not surmise.    From Wordnik.com.  [Riders of the Silences] Reference

"He ain't gwine let me tetch him," said Chany, feebly dabbing at him with the handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [Plantation Sketches] Reference

I told him, and stood in the doorway dabbing at his shirt with a paper towel soaked in seltzer.    From Wordnik.com.  [Why I Can't Be a Hare Krishna] Reference

Another reporter said that she saw an alternate juror with a Kleenex possibly dabbing her eyes.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript May 27, 2005] Reference

She drew back in horror, her hands dabbing aimlessly from her own face to the sides of the pew.    From Wordnik.com.  [Secret Bread] Reference

"" I had never requested kindness before, '' she says, dabbing at her eyes with a paper napkin.    From Wordnik.com.  [Scenes From A Marriage] Reference

And he found himself dabbing at his chin with his napkin and hoping that no one had noticed his soup dribbling from his mouth.    From Wordnik.com.  [Unlikely Duchess]

After a minute, Tom arrived, stark-faced, bending over his father, dabbing at Long's bloody hand with his schoolboy handkerchief.    From Wordnik.com.  [Locked Rooms]

Areina stood at her shoulder, dabbing at the perspiration streaming down her face and trying not to show boredom with the children.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lord of Chaos]