dab at meaning

[shinem]

The two cops introduced a true meeting of east and west: they skewered their meat with a
single chopstick.They dabbed at their faces after most of
the damage had been done.

In these two sentences what is speaker talking about? The cops are having dinner in a Chinese restaurant. Are they making a synthesis between west and east. And also what does the secon sentence mean? Dab at face?

Thanks.

 

[White Hat]

The two cops introduced a true meeting of east and west.

This should mean that the food was a product of the East and the cops were representatives of the West. They were using one chopstick instead of using two.

"dabbed at" might imply that they were wiping their mouths with napkins, but I'm not sure.

 

[Rover_KE]

Shinem, as Raymott said

. . . you can drop "mean/meaning" altogether from your titles, since you always ask the right question in your post.

Rover

 

[shinem]

ok

 

[Tdol]

"dabbed at" might imply that they were wiping their mouths with napkins, but I'm not sure.

I think that when they skewered the meat, it might have sprayed into their faces- this is how I interpret the word 'damage', but it's not too clear.