a small figure representing a baby or other human being, especially for use as a child's toy.
a small figure representing a nonhuman character, for use as a toy.
cartoon character dolls.
Slang.
a pretty but expressionless or unintelligent woman.
a girl or woman, especially one who is considered attractive.
a boy or man who is considered attractive.
(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).
Informal. a generous or helpful person.
You're a doll for lending me your car.
Slang. a barbiturate in pill form.
a small model or dummy of a human being, used as a toy
slang a pretty girl or woman of little intelligence: sometimes used as a term of address
First recorded in 1550–60; generic use of Doll
A doll is a toy that looks like a small person, often a baby. When kids play with dolls, they might dress them up, push them in toy strollers, and have pretend tea parties with them. Some dolls are the size of real babies and are played with in a way that's a kind of practice parenting — like pretending to feed and bathe a doll. Other dolls are much smaller and represent people of varying ages, like a family of dolls that are played with in a doll house, sitting at little tables and sleeping in tiny beds. The word doll is also an old-fashioned, slightly offensive term for a woman, especially one who's young and pretty.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There was a bicentennial Barbie and a colonial Campbell’s Soup doll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Setup: Woody, a pull-string doll from the 1950s and the favorite of his owner Andy, feels threatened by the newfangled interloper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Developing the doll involved years of field research, said company head Kim Ji-hee.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
I often think that's how the Russian authorities want the world to view their country: as a giant tumbler doll that cannot be knocked down or defeated, no matter how hard you push it.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
I half expected the doll to start talking.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
His abstract painting "Doll Boy" -- a reference to his crush on the pop singer Cliff Richard -- caught the eye of the art dealer John Kasmin, who bought it for £40.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
“Stocks are priced for near perfection,” said Bob Doll, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
In The Bear and the Doll, she brought playful charm to a comedic role, proving her range across genres.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
In fact, Doll has already made his purchase — for a six-night Caribbean sailing aboard a Virgin Voyages ship — as part of a pre–Black Friday sale.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025
He tried to think about Doll, about how she must have felt, but his thoughts had already moved away.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
They also include a smiling robot made by the company Wonderful Platform, and similar cute dolls from the firm Mr. Mind.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
But before making the big decision, he is just looking forward to returning to Pakistan and bringing gifts from Dubai for his family: Barbie dolls for his daughters and a toy airplane for his son.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Tayebeh Farahizadeh goes into the bedroom of her 7-year-old daughter, Esra, to be surrounded by Esra’s belongings, holding onto the dolls that she says still carry her daughter’s scent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
The chocolate itself is now often reduced to a meme about TikTok-trend overconsumption often lumped into the category of Labubu dolls, matcha and Crumbl Cookies.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
They might look at pictures, and they might hold their rag dolls nicely and talk to them.
From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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.
