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doll

[dol]
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noun
  1. a small figure representing a baby or other human being, especially for use as a child's toy.
  2. Slang.
    1. a pretty but expressionless or unintelligent woman.
    2. a girl or woman, especially one who is considered attractive.
    3. a boy or man who is considered attractive.
    4. (sometimes initial capital letter)an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
  3. Informal. a generous or helpful person: You're a doll for lending me your car.
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Verb Phrases
  1. doll up, Informal. to dress in an elegant or ostentatiously stylish manner: She got all dolled up for a trip to the opera.
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Origin of doll

First recorded in 1550–60; generic use of Doll
Related formsdoll·ish, doll-like, adjectivedoll·ish·ly, adverbdoll·ish·ness, noun

Doll

[dol]
noun
  1. a female given name, form of Dorothy.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

babymodelpuppetfigurinedishbunnymoppetfigureeffigydollymarionettemanikinhoneysweetheartprincesweetiedarlingbabeangelbroad

Examples from the Web for doll

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I couldn't be a doll, for men to look at and then tire of me.

  • "Come," he said, pleadingly, and of course the doll could not have gone alone.

  • There's a doll I brought her from New Orleans once when she was about your size.

    The Little Colonel

    Annie Fellows Johnston

  • Somebody been demonstrating that your doll's stuffed with sawdust, Tracey?

    The Fortune Hunter

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • They were blue eyes, blue and shallow as a doll's, and edged with long, fine lashes.

    The Black Bag

    Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for doll

doll

noun
  1. a small model or dummy of a human being, used as a toy
  2. slang a pretty girl or woman of little intelligence: sometimes used as a term of address
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Derived Formsdollish, adjectivedollishly, adverbdollishness, noun

Word Origin

C16: probably from Doll, pet name for Dorothy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for doll

n.

1550s, endearing name for a female pet or a mistress; originally a familiar form of fem. proper name Dorothy (q.v.). The -l- for -r- substitution in nicknames is common in English: cf. Hal for Harold, Moll for Mary, Sally for Sarah, etc. Attested from 1640s as colloquial for "slattern;" sense of "child's toy baby" is c.1700. Transferred back to living beings 1778 in sense of "pretty, silly woman."

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v.

1867, "to pet, indulge," from doll (n.). Usually with up. Meaning "to dress up" is from 1906, American English. Related: Dolled; dolling.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper