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Possible definitions for dab

Bab
Iranian religious leader, founder of the Babi religion and one of the central figures of Baha'i. The son of a merchant, he was influenced by the Shaykhi school of Shiite Islam. In 1844 he wrote a commentary on the sura of Joseph in the Quran and declared himself the Bab (Arabic: "gateway") to the hidden imam. Later he would claim to be the imam himself, and finally a divine manifestation. The same year he assembled 18 disciples, who spread the new faith in the various Persian provinces. He had popular support but was opposed by members of the religious class, and he was arrested near Tehran in 1847 and imprisoned. Meeting at Badasht in 1848, his followers, the Azali, formally broke with Islam. Mirza was executed by a firing squad at Tabriz in 1850.


Daaz
Soldier and president of Mexico (1877-80, 1884-1911). After training for the priesthood, he pursued a military career instead. When peace was restored to Mexico under B. Ju\u00e1 rez, D\u00ed az resigned his command, but he soon became dissatisfied with the government. After leading two revolts, he was elected president in 1877. He succeeded in bolstering the export economy through foreign investment, while leading in the spirit of a caudillo, suppressing opposition, rigging elections, and using patronage to win the cooperation of various groups. The Mexican Revolution was launched in 1910 to end his dictatorship and reverse his policies. See also F. Madero, La Reforma.


dace
Any of various small, slim, active freshwater fishes of the carp family (Cyprinidae). In England and Europe, the dace (Leuciscus leuciscus), a relative of the European chub, inhabits streams and rivers. It is a small-headed, silvery fish that grows to 10-12 in. (25-30 cm) long and weighs 1-1.5 lbs (0.5-0.7 kg). It lives in schools and eats plant and animal material. It is a good bait and sport fish but is not highly valued as food. In N. America, the name is applied to various small cyprinids found in creeks and bogs, mostly in the central and S U.S.


Dada
Nihilistic movement in the arts that originated in Zurich in 1916 and flourished in New York, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, and Hannover in the early 20th cent. The name, French for "hobbyhorse," selected by a chance procedure, was adopted by a group of artists incl. J. Arp, M. Duchamp, M. Ray, and F. Picabia to symbolize their emphasis on the illogical and absurd, growing out of disgust with bourgeois values and despair over World War I. The archetypal Dada forms of expression were the nonsense poem and the ready-made. Dada had far-reaching effects on the art of the 20th cent.; the creative techniques of accident and chance were sustained in Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, conceptual art, and Pop art.


dado
In Classical architecture, the plain portion of the pedestal of a column, between the base and the cornice (or cap). In later architecture, a dado is a wall's paneled or ...

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