doe
noun
the female of the deer, antelope, goat, rabbit, and certain other animals.
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doe
1 American
[doh]
/ doʊ /
noun
-
does,
plural
-
doe
plural
DOE
2
American
-
Also d.o.e. depends on experience; depending on experience: used in stating a salary range in help-wanted ads.
DOE
1
British
abbreviation
-
(in Canada and, formerly, in Britain) Department of the Environment
-
(in the US) Department of Energy
Doe
2
British
/ dəʊ /
noun
-
law (formerly) the plaintiff in a fictitious action, Doe versus Roe, to test a point of law See also Roe
-
an unknown or unidentified male or female person
doe
3
British
/ dəʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English do, Old English dā; cognate with Danish daa; akin to Old English dēon “to suck”
Explanation
A doe is a deer, a female deer. Doe can also refer to the female of other animals, but it’s usually a deer. You might spot a doe in the spring, walking through the woods with her babies. There are several four-legged mammals whose females are called does, including goats, antelopes, and even rabbits. The males are called bucks. The words doe and buck are like woman and man for the furry set. Oddly, you can also refer to female guinea pigs, mice, and weasels as does, although doe usually means a deer. The word comes from the Old English da, or "female deer," which probably stems from a Celtic root.
Vocabulary lists containing doe
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On a sunny morning in September, a dead doe lay on the side of a small road just off 395, as cars whizzed by on the artery that connects communities along the Eastern Sierra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
The “Christmas magic” that allows the doe to fly does not work on other creatures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
"Walking through the woods, I spotted this roe doe grazing the foliage," says Walker-Nix.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2024
She was, of course, extraordinarily beautiful, with big doe eyes and the kind of bone structure no surgery can replicate.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2023
By simply turning her head, a doe could say to her family, “Let’s look for clovers by the stream.”
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
That 70 million barrels might be the minimum operation levels based on technical considerations, but the DOE seems to “assume optimal operations,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
As of December, the DOE estimated 2.7 million barrels a day could be drawn out of the 4.4 million barrels it was designed to handle, according to GAO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
A DOE official said it was unlikely that the administration would need to release all the authorized barrels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
To understand exactly what was happening inside the material, the team carried out experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by ORNL.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
DOE already had a computer security group, known as CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability.
From Underground by Suelette Dreyfus
It described sworn testimony from the so-called talent agent that he had never spoken to either Griffin or the Jane Doe, whom the lawsuit names as Joleene Altum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
It might read something like, “XYZ Financial for benefit of the John Doe IRA.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 19, 2026
Fritz Miot and Laila Doe are two foreign nationals who have lived in the United States for decades thanks to the TPS program.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Doe External link, upheld the administration’s authority to end deportation protection for Haitians and Syrians.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
“We have a John Doe at 451 Boardman.”
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Sonders: Energy still does not get a lot of attention, even though it is by far the best-performing sector this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
What does it mean to be a CEO who manages four other CEOs?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
It really does affect your soul, so you don’t wanna mess with those frequencies.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
One that does not commit so much time and energy to go-nowhere debates?
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
A quick glance at his bowls — one empty, the other with hardly a slosh of water — does nothing but reinforce my resolve.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
