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2 VERB [no cont] If you say that you have to dash , you mean that you are in a hurry and have to leave immediately. [INFORMAL ] □ [V ] Oh, Tim! I'm sorry but I have to dash.

3 N‑COUNT A dash of something is a small quantity of it which you add when you are preparing food or mixing a drink. □ [+ of ] Add a dash of balsamic vinegar.

4 N‑COUNT A dash of a quality is a small amount of it that is found in something and often makes it more interesting or distinctive. □ [+ of ] …a story with a dash of mystery thrown in.

5 VERB If you dash something against a wall or other surface, you throw or push it violently, often so hard that it breaks. [LITERARY ] □ [V n + against ] She seized the doll and dashed it against the stone wall with tremendous force. [Also V n prep]

6 VERB If an event or person dashes someone's hopes or expectations, it destroys them by making it impossible that the thing that is hoped for or expected will ever happen. [JOURNALISM , LITERARY ] □ [V n] The announcement dashed hopes of an early end to the crisis. □ [have n V -ed] They had their championship hopes dashed by a 3–1 defeat.

7 N‑COUNT A dash is a straight, horizontal line used in writing, for example to separate two main clauses whose meanings are closely connected.

8 N‑COUNT The dash of a car is its dashboard .

9 PHRASE If you make a dash for a place, you run there very quickly, for example to escape from someone or something. □  I made a dash for the front door but he got there before me.

▸  dash off

1 PHRASAL VERB If you dash off to a place, you go there very quickly. □ [V P + to ] He dashed off to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

2 PHRASAL VERB If you dash off a piece of writing, you write or compose it very quickly, without thinking about it very much. □ [V P n] He dashed off a couple of novels.

dash|board /dæ ʃbɔː ^r d/ (dashboards ) N‑COUNT The dashboard in a car is the panel facing the driver's seat where most of the instruments and switches are.

dash|ing /dæ ʃ I ŋ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] A dashing person or thing is very stylish and attractive. [OLD-FASHIONED ] □  He was the very model of the dashing RAF pilot.

das|tard|ly /dæ stə ^r dli/

1 ADJ [ADJ n] If you describe an action as dastardly , you mean it is wicked and intended to hurt someone. [OLD-FASHIONED ]

2 ADJ [ADJ n] If you describe a person as dastardly , you mean they are wicked. [OLD-FASHIONED ]

DAT /dæ t/ N‑UNCOUNT DAT is a type of magnetic tape used to make very high quality recordings of sound by recording it in digital form. DAT is an abbreviation for 'digital audio tape'.

da|ta ◆◆◇ /de I tə/

1 N‑UNCOUNT ; N‑PLURAL You can refer to information as data , especially when it is in the form of facts or statistics that you can analyse. In American English, data is usually a plural noun. In technical or formal British English, data is sometimes a plural noun, but at other times, it is an uncount noun. □  The study was based on data from 2,100 women. □  To cope with these data, hospitals bought large mainframe computers.

2 N‑UNCOUNT Data is information that can be stored and used by a computer program. [COMPUTING ] □  No important data is stored on the devices. SYNONYMS data NOUN 1

facts:His opponent swamped him with facts and figures.

figures:New Government figures predict that one in two marriages will end in divorce.

statistics:Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.

da |ta bank (data banks ) also databank N‑COUNT A data bank is the same as a database .

data|base /de I təbe I s/ (databases ) also data base N‑COUNT A database is a collection of data that is stored in a computer and that can easily be used and added to. □  They maintain a database of hotels that cater for businesswomen.