daub

 
Pronunciation: /dɔːb/

verb

[with object]
  • carelessly coat or smear (a surface) with a thick or sticky substance: the walls were daubed with splashes of paint
  • spread (a thick or sticky substance) on a surface in a careless or clumsy way: a canvas with paint daubed on it
  • paint (words or drawings) on a surface in a careless or clumsy way: they daubed graffiti on the walls

noun

  • 1a patch or smear of a thick or sticky substance: a daub of paint
  • a painting executed without much skill: she stuck the painting up alongside the daubs made by her children
  • 2 [mass noun] plaster, clay, or another substance used for coating a surface, especially when mixed with straw and applied to laths or wattles to form a wall: wattle and daub

Derivatives

dauber

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French dauber, from Latin dealbare 'whiten, whitewash', based on albus 'white'