dose

[ dohs ]

/ doʊs /

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See synonyms for: dose / dosed / dosing on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

a substance, situation, or quantity of anything analogous to medicine, especially of something disagreeable: Failing the exam was a hard dose to swallow.

an amount of sugar added in the production of champagne.

Physics.

Also called ab·sorbed 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.
exposure dose.

Slang. a case of gonorrhea or syphilis.

verb (used with object), dosed, dos·ing.

to administer in or apportion for doses.

to give a dose of medicine to.

to add sugar to (champagne) during production.

verb (used without object), dosed, dos·ing.

to take a dose of medicine.

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Origin of dose

First recorded in 1590–1600; French , from Late Latin dosis, from Greek dósis “a giving, gift,” derivative of didónai “to give”

OTHER WORDS FROM dose

doser, nounsu·per·dose, nounun·der·dose, nounun·der·dose, verb (used with object), un·der·dosed, un·der·dos·ing.

well-dosed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for dose

She recalled the 2009 swine flu pandemic, when wealthy countries like the US scooped up most doses of the H1N1 vaccine.
Who should get the Covid-19 vaccine first? Ethicists are fiercely debating how to vaccinate billions of people.|Sigal Samuel|November 20, 2020|Vox
The company announced in September that 350,000 people had received doses of its candidates at that point.
A Chinese vaccine maker says it’s inoculated 1 million people—even though its trials are incomplete|Grady McGregor|November 20, 2020|Fortune
In high doses, formic acid-producing ants can even chase off bears.
Why can some people smell ants? Here’s the answer to TikTok’s latest mystery.|Rachael Zisk|November 18, 2020|Popular Science
Even if the vaccine doses remain fully intact and untampered with throughout the entire production and storage process, there are still plenty of opportunities for vaccination efforts to be compromised.
How bad actors could sabotage a COVID vaccine—and how that can be prevented|jakemeth|November 18, 2020|Fortune

Other types of vaccines need cells grown in the lab to make millions of doses.
Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 appears nearly 95 percent effective|Erin Garcia de Jesus|November 16, 2020|Science News For Students
Both were in the habit of dosing themselves with the Jenkins pearls, a dangerous remedy—witness Mora, so quickly carried off.
The Nabob|Alphonse Daudet
This was done partly out of philanthropy, partly because nothing is so efficient as dosing to take away prejudice!
The Cradle of Mankind|W.A. Wigram
Only fancy a farmer dosing a sheep with mutton broth, and adding, for its stomach's sake, a little wine!
A Treatise on Sheep:|Ambrose Blacklock
Then followed hours of anxious labor, holding and dosing the sick animals, but it was all in vain.
The Boy Chums in the Florida Jungle|Wilmer M. Ely
Keep no patent medicines about; then you will be less likely to be dosing with them.
The Funny Side of Physic|A. D. Crabtre

British Dictionary definitions for dose

dose

/ (dəʊs) /

noun

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

informal something unpleasant to experiencea dose of influenza

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

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

slang a venereal infection, esp gonorrhoea

like a dose of salts very quickly indeed

verb (tr)

to administer a dose or doses to (someone)

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

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

to add syrup to (wine) during bottling

Derived forms of dose

doser, noun

Word Origin for dose

C15: from French, from Late Latin dosis, from Greek: a giving, from didonai to give

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

Medical definitions for dose

dose

[ dōs ]

n.

A specified quantity of a therapeutic agent, such as a drug, prescribed to be taken at one time or at stated intervals.

The amount of radiation administered as therapy to a given site.

v.

To give or prescribe something, such as medicine, in specified amounts.

To give someone a dose, as of medicine.

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