How to Use jab in a Sentence

jab

1 of 2 verb
Definition of jabnext
Synonyms for jabnext
  • The needle jabbed his arm.
  • The needle jabbed into his arm.
  • He jabbed at the other player with his hockey stick.
  • But the 6-foot-6 Swede jabbed his stick at the puck, knocking it away into the left corner.
    — Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 25 Mar. 2023
  • The reps jabbed their ballpoint pens at my heels and scratched notes on clipboards.
    — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024
  • The bay was only seven feet deep at that spot, so the mast jabbed into the mud and snapped in two.
    — Brian Schutmaat, Smithsonian, 25 Apr. 2015
  • Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky .
    — Gail Cornwall, The Atlantic, 4 May 2017
  • The bay was only seven feet deep at that spot, so the mast jabbed into the mud and snapped in two.
    — Brian Schutmaat, Smithsonian, 29 June 2017
  • Zingano jabbed her opponent for taking a break from the sport.
    — Brian Martin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Oct. 2023
  • Easy to jab it once, twice, three times into a dark raincoat-clad back.
    — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 8 Dec. 2018
  • Keep it gentle and subtle, and try not to jab your tongue in your partner's mouth.
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 11 May 2023
  • Maintain eye contact with the shark and use a hard object or your hands to jab the nose, gills, and eyes.
    — Jennifer Earl, CBS News, 5 July 2023
  • The 32-year-old Wilder jabbed through much of the first round while Stiverne, who hadn't fought in two years, moved slowly and cautiously around the ring.
    — Cheryl Wray, AL.com, 5 Nov. 2017
  • Glenn sized up the sylphlike woman, who had pink hair and was gamely jabbing at the air.
    — David Kortava, The New Yorker, 11 May 2018
  • Boots are rinsed free of sand and hung to dry atop the hickory handles of peaveys jabbed into logs.
    — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 16 Feb. 2019
  • In a series of weekend tweets, Trump jabbed directly at Mueller by name for the first time.
    — Darlene Superville, chicagotribune.com, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Most people who’ve been jabbed by a needle know the drill: First the pierce, then the sharp, searing pain and an urge to pull away, or at least wince.
    — National Geographic, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Kaaz said he was sprayed with pepper spray and jabbed with a police baton.
    — Sean Rossman, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2018
  • In the first round, the two boys jabbed with their elbows and fired their knees like pistons into the other’s stomach.
    — Shashank Bengalistaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2019
  • Beginning this weekend, the Dodgers will jab their way to 11 wins and the franchise’s eighth title.
    — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023
  • The piece jabs at the toxic nature of machismo while scrambling the boundaries of gender.
    — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024
  • When host Olivia Munn jabbed at the male attendees from the Golden Globes for not speaking up more.
    — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 11 Jan. 2018
  • Friendly jabs about who can’t guard who or whose team would outduel whose flood the text thread.
    — Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The sister had a puncture wound on the side of her cheek consistent with being jabbed with a fork, the complaint said.
    — Gina Martinez, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2023
  • None of this has stopped people from jabbing things into their ears.
    — Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2024
  • The suspect lunged, jabbed and threatened to harm the employee with the knife before fleeing.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 9 June 2018
  • Low trees jabbed out at every angle, ripping his thin clothes to shreds.
    — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 5 June 2023
  • The children were jabbed with a long needle, without the help of an ultrasound to guide the needle’s movements.
    — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 10 July 2023
  • Stafford worked to hook another line into the reptile, then Bellinger tried to jab its neck with a harpoon.
    — Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, 23 July 2018
  • A ceramic cat statue had been broken, then the front paw was jabbed through the door of a kitchen cabinet.
    — Brett Kelman, USA TODAY, 13 May 2017
Advertisement

jab

2 of 2 noun
  • She gave him a jab in the ribs.
  • He threw a right jab to his opponent's body.
  • Cruz snapped off two more jabs, and then a right cross.
    — Morgan Campbell Todd Heisler, New York Times, 24 June 2023
  • Part of the fun was throwing a little jab at the Astros.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The Pope got in on the joke and thew a fake jab himself, much to Stallone’s amusement.
    — Zack Sharf, Variety, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The Longhorns’ coach couldn’t help but throw a playful jab in the postgame interview on the field.
    — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 9 Sep. 2023
  • But his most pointed jabs were saved for Chief Michel Moore.
    — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Hand-ringing about supply chains (and many of the jabs at China)?
    — Courtney Fingar, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Spence’s game plan was to land body shots and use his reach advantage with a jab.
    — Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 30 July 2023
  • In the third round, Solano closed the deal with a nice left jab, right hook, left hook combination.
    — Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Jan. 2024
  • This earns me a soft jab of his elbow against my shoulder.
    — Jessica Leon, EW.com, 21 June 2023
  • Ramos rallied and scored with some jabs before the round ended.
    — José M. Romero, The Arizona Republic, 25 Mar. 2023
  • Not even Taylor Swift can persuade anti-vaxxers to get the jab.
    — Christopher Morse, STAT, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Pound pencil-poked and worried at these lines, a jab here and a slice there, and finally cut the lot.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2022
  • It’s called a jab step, in which the player takes a hard step to one direction and then goes the opposite way.
    — Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 19 Aug. 2023
  • That's good for any situation where a jab saw would come in handy.
    — Brittany Vincent, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Sep. 2023
  • In the playful jab, Prinsloo was relaxing with their dog for a photo.
    — Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 28 Sep. 2023
  • And when Spence attempted a flurry in Round 6, Crawford popped him with a jab.
    — Morgan Campbell, New York Times, 30 July 2023
  • Van Gundy punched back with a common jab at Herro's overall age group.
    — Emmett Prosser, Journal Sentinel, 30 May 2023
  • While seated next to one another, Gomez called Cyrus to let out a few witty jabs.
    — Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 21 Aug. 2023
  • The delivery driver threw out a jab of a kick that tripped the runner and allowed officers to catch up, the video shows.
    — Dennis Romero, NBC News, 17 Apr. 2023
  • Outside of the clip of James, there have been instances where players have subtly taken jabs at Ham.
    — Jon Hoefling, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
  • The Sister Act actress started to read the teleprompter to get the show back on track but couldn't resist making one more jab at Behar.
    — Tracey Harrington McCoy, Peoplemag, 14 Feb. 2023
  • Spence, who is bigger, younger, with a better jab and a higher punch-output, is going to get off to a good start.
    — Manouk Akopyan, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2023
  • Then the actor took a playful jab at Ben Stiller, who was also in attendance.
    — Staff and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2022
  • His speech, filled with Trumpian jabs at the press as well as criticism of the government’s handling of the pandemic, drew cheers.
    — Annalisa Quinn, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Cornejo gave Shields some trouble in the early rounds with a solid jab and movement away from Shields’ right hand.
    — Dave Hogg, Detroit Free Press, 4 June 2023
  • Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The performance was full of sparkles (all the way up to her top hat), fire, cowgirl dancers, hot men playing instruments, and even a jab at Ryan Reynolds.
    — Vulture, 7 Dec. 2022
  • But the Best New Artist winner’s most pointed jabs on her sophomore album may be saved for herself.
    — Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jab.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: