dose

American  

[dohs] / doʊs /

noun

1. a quantity of medicine prescribed to be taken at one time.

2. a substance, situation, or quantity of anything analogous to medicine, especially of something disagreeable.

   Failing the exam was a hard dose to swallow.

3. an amount of sugar added in the production of champagne.

4. Physics.

   1. 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.

   2. exposure dose.

5. Slang. a case of gonorrhea or syphilis.

---

verb (used with object)

dosed, dosing

1. to administer in or apportion for doses.

2. to give a dose of medicine to.

3. to add sugar to (champagne) during production.

verb (used without object)

dosed, dosing

1. to take a dose of medicine.

dose British  

/ dəʊs /

noun

1. med a specific quantity of a therapeutic drug or agent taken at any one time or at specified intervals

2. informal something unpleasant to experience

   a dose of influenza

3. 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

4. Also called: dosage.  a small amount of syrup added to wine, esp sparkling wine, when the sediment is removed and the bottle is corked

5. slang a venereal infection, esp gonorrhoea

6. very quickly indeed

---

verb

1. to administer a dose or doses to (someone)

2. med to give (a therapeutic drug or agent) in appropriate quantities

3. (often foll by up) to give (someone, esp oneself) drugs, medicine, etc, esp in large quantities

4. to add syrup to (wine) during bottling

Other Word Forms

• doser noun
• superdose noun
• underdose noun
• well-dosed adjective

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."

Example Sentences

A second dose must be given at least four weeks after the first, but can be given later.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

That’s a small fraction of what’s needed, MSF said in its letter, given that “this allocation is capped, demand far exceeds supply, and every dose directed to MSF is a dose unavailable to another program.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Until the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy HD last month, the highest available dose of Novo’s GLP-1 injection was 2.4 mg.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

The approval follows decisions from the European Commission and British regulators earlier this year that allowed a Wegovy dose of up to 7.2 milligrams a week administered as three separate shots of 2.4 milligrams.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

To stay within the legal limit, the workers needed to leave the plant if they reached that dose, and they were desperately needed where they were.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

• application
• dosage
• lot
• measure
• measurement
• prescription
• quantity
• shot