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# jab

«jab» in Mova's school dictionary: **to push something pointed quickly and hard into or at…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (jab, jabs, jabbed, jabbing); noun (a jab, jabs)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To jab is to push something pointed quickly and hard into or at something, like a finger or stick. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#m1)

2) A jab is a quick, hard poke or punch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#m2)

3) (informal, UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ) A jab is an injection, like a vaccine: "the flu jab". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#m3)

4) (informal) A jab is a short unkind remark: "a jab at her spelling". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life and health: children get jabs (vaccinations) from the nurse. In boxing, a jab is a fast straight punch. In stories, a character jabs a finger or a stick. Phrases: flu jab, have a jab, jab at, take a jab at.

### examples

- He jabbed me with his elbow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x1)
- We had our flu jabs at school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x2)
- The nurse said the jab would only sting a little. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x3)
- She jabbed the button on the lift. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x4)
- The boxer threw a quick jab. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x5)
- Don't jab your pencil at people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x6)
- His joke was a jab at my messy hair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x7)
- All 28 children had the jab, in two groups of 14. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/#x8)

### note

Regular verb, double b: jabbed, jabbing. Informal; formal word for injection is vaccination or injection. In US English people say "shot" instead of "jab".

### In the corpora

- [Jabs and check-ups keep people well before they get ill.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/20-the-doctor-and-the-chemist/6/)
- [The flu jab is free for the over-sixty-fives because flu is much more dangerous for older people.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/20-the-doctor-and-the-chemist/19/)
- [Pharmacists can also give some vaccines, such as the flu jab for adults, and check blood pressure.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/20-at-the-pharmacy/11/)
- [Little children screaming at jabs aren't being naughty, and a calm older brother or sister holding their hand can really help.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/32-needles-and-brave-faces/14/)
- [A sore arm or a slight fever for a day or two after a jab is the immune system responding, not the disease.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/77-olympiad-odd-one-out-order-and-tall-tales/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «jab» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/J/jab/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.