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Showing results for "dope"
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Slang dictionary results for dope.
Synonyms

dope

American  
[dohp] / doʊp /

noun

  • dopes
    plural
  1. any thick liquid or pasty preparation, as a lubricant, used in preparing a surface.

  2. an absorbent material used to absorb and hold a liquid, as in the manufacture of dynamite.

  3. Aeronautics.

    1. any of various varnishlike products for coating a fabric, as of airplane wings, in order to make it waterproof, stronger, etc.

    2. a similar product used to coat the fabric of a balloon to reduce gas leakage.

  4. Slang.

    1. any narcotic or narcoticlike drug taken to induce euphoria or satisfy addiction.

    2. any illicit drug.

    3. a drug, as a steroid, given to an athlete to boost athletic performance.

    4. a narcotic or other drug given surreptitiously to a horse to improve or retard its performance in a race.

  5. Slang. information, data, or news.

    What's the latest dope on the strike?

  6. Informal. a stupid or unresponsive person.

  7. Southern U.S. (chiefly South Atlantic States). a carbonated, flavored, and sweetened drink, especially cola-flavored; soda pop.

  8. North Central U.S. (chiefly Ohio). syrup used as a topping for ice cream.


verb (used with object)

  • dopes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • doped,
    past participle,  past
  • doping
    present participle
  1. Slang.

    1. to affect with dope or drugs (usually followed by up orout ).

      I was so doped up that I couldn't remember a thing.

    2. to add a narcotic or other drug to.

      My brother doped my food as a prank.

    3. to give a drug to (an athlete or horse), so as to affect performance in a race or other competition.

  2. to apply or treat with dope.

    In the winter, we doped the fabric of the airplanes in the hangar.

  3. Electronics. to add or treat (a pure semiconductor) with a dopant.

verb (used without object)

  • dopes,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • doped,
    past participle,  past
  • doping
    present participle
  1. Slang. to take drugs.

    He only dopes on weekends—or so he says.

adjective

  1. Slang. great; excellent.

    His band is so dope!

verb phrase

  1. dope out to figure out; work out: to dope out a solution to a problem.

    to dope out a plan;

    to dope out a solution to a problem.

dope British  
/ dəʊp /

noun

  1. 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

  2. an additive used to improve the properties of something, such as an antiknock compound added to petrol

  3. a thick liquid, such as a lubricant, applied to a surface

  4. a combustible absorbent material, such as sawdust or wood pulp, used to hold the nitroglycerine in dynamite

  5. slang

    1. any illegal drug, usually cannabis

    2. ( as modifier )

      a dope fiend

  6. a drug administered to a racehorse or greyhound to affect its performance

  7. informal a person considered to be stupid or slow-witted

  8. informal news or facts, esp confidential information

  9. informal a photographic developing solution

"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

verb

  1. electronics to add impurities to (a semiconductor) in order to produce or modify its properties

  2. to apply or add a dopant to

  3. to administer a drug to (oneself or another)

  4. (intr) to take dope

"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

adjective

  1. slang excellent

"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

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

Past

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:

American swimmer Hunter Armstrong has said he "definitely" doesn't want to dope for the games, adding: "I personally have taken pride in getting as far as I can on natural God-given talent."

From BBC May 23, 2026

The latter has been handled by cartoons like the 2019 series “Harley Quinn,” which turns Superman into an overly confident dope.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 7, 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

At first I thought it was so dope because I’d never been up that late before, but when I came into the living room and saw the policemen, I knew something was wrong.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

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

"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

But I found only dopes Don’t use harness or ropes, Which is why I now lie here in traction.

From Washington Post Oct. 17, 2019

I partly blame all those dopes that clap their heads off--they'd foul up anybody, if you gave them a chance.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

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 duration of illumination determines the degree to which the material is doped.

From Science Daily May 15, 2024

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 tribunal ruled Halep had "intentionally" doped and gave her a four-year ban.

From BBC Mar. 7, 2024

Rattlesnakes and doped semiconductors detect infrared radiation perfectly well.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

This technique, called "doping," involves introducing a small amount of another material to produce specific properties.

From Science Daily Aug. 17, 2026

There have been claims that Kratochvilova's performance in Munich was assisted by the systematic doping regime that existed in her country at the time - something she has strenuously denied.

From BBC Aug. 12, 2026

He added testing technology is evolving quickly but, where riders and teams push the boundaries, doping is always going to be a risk factor.

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

When they had at last got it down from the doping ground, there was another hitch.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

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