dose
Americannoun
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doses
plural
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a quantity of medicine prescribed to be taken at one time.
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a substance, situation, or quantity of anything analogous to medicine, especially of something disagreeable.
Failing the exam was a hard dose to swallow.
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an amount of sugar added in the production of champagne.
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Physics.
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Also called absorbed dose. the quantity of ionizing radiation absorbed by a unit mass of matter, especially living tissue, measured in grays: although increasingly disfavored, in the U.S. an absorbed dose may still be measured in rads.
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Slang. a case of gonorrhea or syphilis.
verb (used with object)
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doses,
present (3rd person singular)
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dosed,
past participle, past
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dosing
present participle
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to administer in or apportion for doses.
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to give a dose of medicine to.
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to add sugar to (champagne) during production.
verb (used without object)
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doses,
present (3rd person singular)
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dosed,
past participle, past
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dosing
present participle
noun
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med a specific quantity of a therapeutic drug or agent taken at any one time or at specified intervals
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informal something unpleasant to experience
a dose of influenza
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Also called: dosage. the total energy of ionizing radiation absorbed by unit mass of material, esp of living tissue; usually measured in grays (SI unit) or rads
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Also called: dosage. a small amount of syrup added to wine, esp sparkling wine, when the sediment is removed and the bottle is corked
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slang a venereal infection, esp gonorrhoea
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very quickly indeed
verb
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to administer a dose or doses to (someone)
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med to give (a therapeutic drug or agent) in appropriate quantities
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(often foll by up) to give (someone, esp oneself) drugs, medicine, etc, esp in large quantities
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to add syrup to (wine) during bottling
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dosesimple
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dosessimple
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have dosedperfect
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has dosedperfect
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am dosingprogressive
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are dosingprogressive
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is dosingprogressive
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have been dosingperfect progressive
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has been dosingperfect progressive
Past
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dosedsimple
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had dosedperfect
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was dosingprogressive
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were dosingprogressive
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had been dosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dose
First recorded in 1590–1600; French , from Late Latin dosis, from Greek dósis “a giving, gift,” derivative of didónai “to give”
Explanation
A dose is the amount of medicine you're supposed to take. A bottle of aspirin has the recommended dose printed on its side. When your doctor prescribes medication, she tells you what dose you should take, whether it's one pill twice a day or two teaspoons just before bedtime. You can also get a dose of something else: having x-rays gives you a small dose of radiation, for example, and watching the news instead of your favorite cartoon can be said to give you a dose of reality. The Greek root of dose is dosis, "a portion prescribed."
Vocabulary lists containing dose
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:
The win over North Macedonia was convincing and delivered a dose of optimism, but that has been severely dented and former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday believes Pocognoli's honeymoon period is over already.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Four people at the worksite are receiving rabies post-exposure prophylaxis — which can include a dose of human rabies immune globulin and a rabies vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The researchers were surprised to find signs of DNA damage regardless of whether the UV dose was delivered over a shorter or longer period.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
Patients on the highest dose of the combination lost an average of 23.3% of their body weight over roughly 11 months while those on Zepbound alone lost an average of 14.8% of their weight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
“How long did it take after your first dose to feel the effects?” asked Farooqi.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
High doses have raised kidney safety concerns in animal experiments, and research has not established whether prolonged supplementation is a safe or effective way to prevent age-related memory loss in otherwise healthy people.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
She remained alive after two doses of the lethal sedative pentobarbital, which may have entered her arm tissue instead of her bloodstream.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
Convicted murderer Christa Gail Pike was hospitalized after she survived two doses of a lethal drug.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Researchers at the University of Calgary are now investigating whether an unexpected addition to standard treatment could help: high doses of vitamin B3, also known as niacin.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
It scarcely seemed possible, so small a bottle, so many doses a day.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Intellia had disclosed late last month that the patient, a man in his early 80s with a heart disease called ATTR-cardiomyopathy, had been hospitalized due to liver problems weeks after being dosed with nex-z.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Sitting in the cockpit, he turned the engines on and was dosed by toxic vapors that came rushing in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2025
This summer's recovery from back surgery has been more dosed in reality, though.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025
The pins, and the dosed paper that resulted, followed a compact grid, which took the form of five tight rows of 20 columns each—the “5-20” pattern slyly referred to above.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2024
King Pellinore dosed his eyes tight, extended his arms in both directions, and announced in capital letters, “Whoso Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Right- wise King Born of All England.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
HRS-1596 has the potential to be developed for once-weekly oral administration, which would reduce dosing frequency relative to current offerings on the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
She tries to stay awake during her commute to uni but admits sometimes "dosing off a bit"
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
"Therapeutic dosing typically involved high-frequency dosing over this time period to obtain short-term physiologic benefits, while ongoing less-intensive contact may be needed to sustain behavioral change."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
Researchers will also need to answer key questions about dosing, timing, long term safety, and whether the benefits apply to human skin, surgical recovery, diabetic wounds, or other slow healing conditions.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2026
Maman Thibaut has been dosing Amélie with café au lait at the big kitchen table.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
