dope
Americannoun
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dopes
plural
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any thick liquid or pasty preparation, as a lubricant, used in preparing a surface.
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an absorbent material used to absorb and hold a liquid, as in the manufacture of dynamite.
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Aeronautics.
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any of various varnishlike products for coating a fabric, as of airplane wings, in order to make it waterproof, stronger, etc.
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a similar product used to coat the fabric of a balloon to reduce gas leakage.
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Slang.
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any narcotic or narcoticlike drug taken to induce euphoria or satisfy addiction.
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any illicit drug.
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a drug, as a steroid, given to an athlete to boost athletic performance.
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a narcotic or other drug given surreptitiously to a horse to improve or retard its performance in a race.
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Slang. information, data, or news.
What's the latest dope on the strike?
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Informal. a stupid or unresponsive person.
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Southern U.S. (chiefly South Atlantic States). a carbonated, flavored, and sweetened drink, especially cola-flavored; soda pop.
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North Central U.S. (chiefly Ohio). syrup used as a topping for ice cream.
verb (used with object)
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dopes,
present (3rd person singular)
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doped,
past participle, past
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doping
present participle
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Slang.
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to affect with dope or drugs (usually followed by up orout ).
I was so doped up that I couldn't remember a thing.
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to add a narcotic or other drug to.
My brother doped my food as a prank.
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to give a drug to (an athlete or horse), so as to affect performance in a race or other competition.
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to apply or treat with dope.
In the winter, we doped the fabric of the airplanes in the hangar.
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Electronics. to add or treat (a pure semiconductor) with a dopant.
verb (used without object)
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dopes,
present (3rd person singular)
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doped,
past participle, past
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doping
present participle
adjective
verb phrase
noun
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any of a number of preparations made by dissolving cellulose derivatives in a volatile solvent, applied to fabric in order to improve strength, tautness, etc
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an additive used to improve the properties of something, such as an antiknock compound added to petrol
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a thick liquid, such as a lubricant, applied to a surface
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a combustible absorbent material, such as sawdust or wood pulp, used to hold the nitroglycerine in dynamite
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slang
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any illegal drug, usually cannabis
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( as modifier )
a dope fiend
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a drug administered to a racehorse or greyhound to affect its performance
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informal a person considered to be stupid or slow-witted
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informal news or facts, esp confidential information
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informal a photographic developing solution
verb
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electronics to add impurities to (a semiconductor) in order to produce or modify its properties
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to apply or add a dopant to
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to administer a drug to (oneself or another)
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(intr) to take dope
adjective
Usage
What else does dope mean? A dope can be a fool, a slang term for "excellent," or refer to drugs like marijuana. Doping is using performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
Regionalisms
See soda pop.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dopesimple
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dopessimple
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have dopedperfect
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has dopedperfect
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am dopingprogressive
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are dopingprogressive
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is dopingprogressive
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have been dopingperfect progressive
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has been dopingperfect progressive
Past
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dopedsimple
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had dopedperfect
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was dopingprogressive
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were dopingprogressive
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had been dopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dope
First recorded in 1840–50; from Dutch doop (dialect) “sauce,” derivative of dopen “to dip, baptize”; cf. deep ( def. ), dip 1
Vocabulary lists containing dope
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:
He tells the BBC that while there are clear failures with the Olympics' anti-doping protocols, the answer is reforming the system, not to dope.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
We commented on Mr. Beast’s video, and the comment got a lot of likes, we’re like “oh shoot, this is dope, this has a real impact on the Mexican community.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
This type of silk is made inside a spider's silk gland, where silk proteins are stored as a thick liquid called "silk dope."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2026
“I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$,” he wrote.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026
“Listen, here’s the dope, see? The gal where I’m working, the daughter of the old man who’s rich, a millionaire, has done run off with a Red, see?”
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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But you might have no idea if you’ve been listening to hockey-ignorant media dopes like me lather attention on the incoming World Cup and the East Coast-pleasing, media-hub Knicks-Spurs NBA final.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
It’s not much of a fight — and Josh isn’t much of a catch — but one of Dunham’s talents is her ability to capture the allure of heartbreakers, scuzzballs and dopes.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
This is where I’ll put on my tortilla-historian sombrero and say something you might find unbelievable: Tortilla-tossing has a long, strange history in California that’s almost never racist — until dopes make it so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2021
"Shout-out to YouTubers who have been doing this for a long time and making us pros look like real dopes this week," he said in a recent segment.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2020
I asked them if they liked it, but do you think you could get an intelligent answer out of those three dopes?
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday he was "uncomfortable" with the presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics of the coach of the doped Russian skater Kamila Valieva.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
The chemical composition of the crystals, plucked from rocks in Australia, hint that they formed from magmas doped with freshwater, a team of scientists argues.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024
An independent report, instigated by the ITIA, ruled Halep had "intentionally" doped and handed out a four-year ban.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2024
Hospice can elicit images of “someone doped up and bedridden,” but it is not “just providing enough morphine to make it through the end,” Gurian said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2024
Ross had not been doped; he had been awakened.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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These were officials from the International Testing Agency, and they were there before dawn to carry out a highly unusual doping control.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
There is some scepticism within cycling about whether such an approach will be of any additional benefit to a sport which has not had a major doping controversy for more than five years.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Valieva soon became embroiled in a doping scandal that eventually landed her a four-year ban.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Traditional transistor manufacturing relies on a process called doping, which introduces impurities into silicon to control electrical behavior.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026
Maddie was out every Saturday that summer tinkering with engines and doping fabric wings and making friends.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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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.