dart

Etymology 1

From Middle English dart, from Old French dart, dard (“dart”), from Medieval Latin dardus, from Frankish *darōþu (“dart, spear”), from Proto-Germanic *darōþuz (“dart, spear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerh₃- (“to leap, spring”); compare Old High German tart (“javelin, dart”), Old English daroþ, dearod (“javelin, spear, dart”), Swedish dart (“dart, dagger”), Icelandic darraður, darr, dör (“dart, spear”).

noun

1. A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the hand; for example, a short lance or javelin.
   Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. 1769, Oxford Standard Text, “King James Bible”, in 2 Samuel, xviii, 14
2. Any sharp-pointed missile weapon, such as an arrow.
3. (sometimes figurative) Anything resembling such a missile; something that pierces or wounds like such a weapon.
   The artful inquiry, whose venom′d dart / Scarce wounds the hearing while it stabs the heart. 1830, Hannah More, Sensibility: The Works of Hannah More, volume 1, page 38
4. A small object with a pointed tip at one end and feathers at the other, which is thrown at a target in the game of darts.
5. (Australia, Canada, colloquial) A cigarette.
   2017, April 18, Craig Little, The Guardian, Hawthorn are not the only ones finding that things can get worse The Tigers will also face Jesse Hogan, still smarting from missing a couple of games but not life inside the AFL bubble, where you can’t even light up a dart at a music festival without someone filming it and sending it to the six o’clock news.
6. (military) A dart-shaped target towed behind an aircraft to train shooters.
   Fighter aircraft also use restricted areas for target shooting at darts towed 1500 feet behind another aircraft. 1988, Michigan Aviation, volumes 21-25, page 62
7. (Australia, obsolete) A plan or scheme.
   Trucking′s my dart too. 1947, Norman Lindsay, Halfway to Anywhere, published 1970, page 79
8. A sudden or fast movement.
   Six minutes later Cueto went over for his second try after the recalled Mike Tindall found him with a perfectly-timed pass, before Ashton went on another dart, this time down his opposite wing, only for his speculative pass inside to be ruled forward. September 24, 2011, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport
9. (sewing) A fold that is stitched on a garment.
   Somehow she managed, with a cinched waist here and a few darts there, to look like a Hollywood star. 2013, “Nadia Popova”, in The Economist
10. A fish, the dace.
11. Any of various species of hesperiid butterfly.

Etymology 2

From Middle English darten, from the noun (see above).

verb

1. (transitive) To throw with a sudden effort or thrust; to hurl or launch.
2. (transitive) To send forth suddenly or rapidly; to emit; to shoot.
   The sun darts forth his beams.
3. (transitive) To shoot with a dart, especially a tranquilizer dart.
   They had to dart the animal to get close enough to help
4. (intransitive) To fly or pass swiftly, like a dart; to move rapidly in one direction; to shoot out quickly.
   The flying man darted eastward.
5. (intransitive) To start and run with speed; to shoot rapidly along.
   The deer darted from the thicket.
   By half-time, it was almost a surprise that the away side had restricted themselves to only one more goal. Messi, again, was prominently involved, darting past Fernando and then Zabaleta. 24 February 2015, Daniel Taylor, “Luis Suárez strikes twice as Barcelona teach Manchester City a lesson”, in The Guardian (London)
   The impressive Frenchman drove forward with purpose down the right before cutting infield and darting in between Vassiriki Diaby and Koscielny. December 29, 2010, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC