doughboy

American  

[doh-boi] / ˈdoʊˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. Informal. an American infantryman, especially in World War I.

2. a rounded mass of dough, boiled or steamed as a dumpling or deep-fried and served as a hot bread.

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doughboy British  

/ ˈdəʊˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. informal an infantryman, esp in World War I

2. dough that is boiled or steamed as a dumpling

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Etymology

Origin of doughboy

1675–85; dough + boy; sense “infantryman,” from mid-1860s, is obscurely derived; two plausible, but unsubstantiated claims: doughboy originally referred to the globular brass buttons on infantry uniforms, likened to the pastry; dough referred to a clay used to clean the white uniform belts

Example Sentences

The result is a tender, unequivocally moist pastry that would make the poor Pillsbury Doughboy weep in shame.

From New York Times • Oct. 10, 2019

For many audience members, the clothes and accessories worn by Cube's Doughboy, Gooding Jr's Tre and Morris Chestnut's Ricky were stars in the own right.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2019

Singleton wrote the part of Doughboy specifically for Ice Cube, but when he tried to cast Cube’s bandmates from N.W.A, executives refused because they didn’t know who they were.

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2019

“The American Expeditionary Force was the most sentimental outfit that ever lived,” John T. Wintinnly wrote in the introduction of a book of Doughboy poems.

From Washington Times • Nov. 17, 2018

She laughed prettily as she caught his meaning almost immediately, and she replied: "Doughboy, ware do you get zat stuff?"

From "And they thought we wouldn't fight" by Gibbons, Floyd