Dash

A dash is a small, loosely defined measure. University of Illinois Extension explains that it was originally a liquid measure, about three drops, and is now also used for dry ingredients, where it is roughly one sixteenth to one eighth of a teaspoon. It is a little more than a pinch.

Sources do not fully agree on the size. A Clemson University Extension conversion chart lists a dash of dry ingredient as one quarter teaspoon or less, which is larger than the Illinois figure. Either way, a dash is much less than a teaspoon.

Bakers meet it in recipes that call for a dash of vanilla, a dash of salt, a dash of cinnamon or a dash of bitters in a syrup. Because the amount is small and flexible, it is used when the flavor is a finishing touch, and recipes that need precision give a measured fraction of a teaspoon instead.