قَاب

qaAbN * The portion, of a bow, that is between the part that is grasped by the hand and the curved extremity: to every bow there are qaAbaAni : (S, O, Msb, K:) or, accord. to El-Khafájee, it is [the space ] between the string and the part that is grasped by the hand, of the bow; as also ↓ qiybN : (TA:) in the Kur [liii. 9], fakaAna qaAba qawosayoni accord. to some, is an inverted phrase, meaning fkAn qaAbaYo qawosK [i. e. And he was at the distance of the measure of the two portions between the part that is grasped by the hand and each of the curved extremities of a bow ]: (S, O:) [but] qaAbN signifies also a measure, or space; and so ↓ qiybN : (S, O, K:) one says, bayonahumaA qaAbu qawosK and qawosK ↓ qiybu , [ Between them two is the measure of a bow ], and likewise qaAdu quwosK and qiydu qawosK : (S, O: *) and it is said that qaAba qawosayoni [in the case mentioned above] means at [ the distance of ] the length of two bows: or as Fr says, at [ the distance of ] the measure of two Arabian bows. (TA.) [ qAbu qawosK is also a term often used in astronomy to denote the distance between two stars; and seems to be syn. with *iraAEN (q. v.) as so used, thus meaning A cubit; which is the measure of each qAb of a bow, or nearly so.]