debbaba دبّابة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“debbaba” (دبّابة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning tank, military tank.
Meanings
- tank, military tank
Usage
Debbaba means the military tank. It is heard in the news, in films and in conversations about the army. Figuratively and in familiar register, it can be used for a big, sturdy car or an imposing person. Plural: debbabat. Pitfall: without the doubled consonant, dbaba means fog or mist (from dbab), a word more common in daily life and easily confused with it in writing. In makchof walo fi dbaba, it is the fog, not the tank.
Example
دازت دبّابة فالطريق
dazet debbaba f triq
“A tank went by on the road.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “debbaba” but also “dbbaba”, “dbaba” and “debaba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.