The word dash has several meanings:

1. To run somewhere quickly and urgently. When the school bell rings, students might dash to their next class. A dog might dash across the yard after a squirrel. The word captures that burst of speed when you need to get somewhere fast, like when you make a dash for cover during a sudden rainstorm.
2. To destroy or ruin something, especially hopes or plans. A canceled field trip might dash your hopes of visiting the museum. Bad weather can dash plans for a baseball game. When used this way, the word often appears in phrases like dashed hopes or dashed dreams.
3. A small amount of something added to a mixture. A recipe might call for a dash of salt or a dash of vanilla extract.
4. A punctuation mark (–) longer than a hyphen, used to set off information in a sentence or show an interruption. Writers use dashes to create pauses or add dramatic emphasis, like this: “The treasure was finally revealed – a single gold coin.”
5. In sports like the 100-meter dash, the word means a short, fast race. Runners sprint at maximum speed from start to finish. The word emphasizes pure speed over distance.