To Dábble. v.n.

1. To play in water; to move in water or mud.

   Neither will a spirit, that dwells with stars, dabble in this impurer mud. Glanville's Apology.

   The little one complained of her legs, that she could neither swim nor dabble with them. L'Estrange.

   But when he found the boys at play,
   And saw them dabbling in their clay,
   He stood behind a stall to lurk,
   And mark the progress of their work. Swift.

2. To do any thing in a slight, superficial, or shallow manner; to tamper.

   Shakespeare shall bear it company, and be put into your hands, as clear and as fair as it came out of them; though you, I think, have been dabbling here and there with the text, I have had more reverence for the writer, and the printer, and left every thing standing just as I found it. Pope.