dot

1
[ dot ]
See synonyms for dot on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. a small, roundish mark made with or as if with a pen.

  2. a minute or small spot on a surface; speck: There were dots of soot on the windowsill.

  1. anything relatively small or specklike.

  2. a small specimen, section, amount, or portion: a dot of butter.

  3. a period, especially as used when pronouncing an internet address.

  4. Music.

    • a point placed after a note or rest, to indicate that the duration of the note or rest is to be increased one half. A double dot further increases the duration by one half the value of the single dot.

    • a point placed under or over a note to indicate that it is to be played staccato.

  5. Telegraphy. a signal of shorter duration than a dash, used in groups along with groups of dashes and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.

  6. Printing. an individual element in a halftone reproduction.

verb (used with object),dot·ted, dot·ting.

  1. to mark with or as if with a dot or dots.

  2. to stud or diversify with or as if with dots: Trees dot the landscape.

  1. to form or cover with dots: He dotted a line across the page.

  2. Cooking. to sprinkle with dabs of butter, margarine, or the like: Dot the filling with butter.

verb (used without object),dot·ted, dot·ting.

  1. to make a dot or dots.

Idioms about dot

  1. dot one's i's and cross one's t's, to be meticulous or precise, even to the smallest detail.

  2. on the dot, Informal. precisely; exactly at the time specified: The guests arrived at eight o'clock on the dot.

  1. the year dot, British Informal. very long ago.

Origin of dot

1
First recorded before 1000; perhaps to be identified with Old English dott “head of a boil,” though not attested in Middle English; cf. dottle, dit, derivative of Old English dyttan “to stop up” (probably derivative of dott ); cognate with Old High German tutta “nipple”

Other words from dot

  • dotlike, adjective
  • dotter, noun

Other definitions for dot (2 of 4)

dot2
[ dot, dawt ]
nounCivil Law.

  1. dowry (def. 1).

Origin of dot

2
First recorded in 1820–25; from French, from Latin dōtem, accusative of dōs “dowry,” akin to dare “to give”

Other words from dot

  • do·tal [doht-l], /ˈdoʊt l/, adjective

Other definitions for Dot (3 of 4)

Dot
[ dot ]
noun

  1. a female given name, form of Dorothea and Dorothy.

Other definitions for DOT (4 of 4)

DOT
abbreviation

  1. damage over time: (in a video game) an attack that results in light or moderate damage when it is dealt, but that wounds or weakens the receiving character, who continues to lose health in small increments for a specified period of time, or until healed by a spell, potion, etc.

  2. Department of Transportation.

  1. Dictionary of Occupational Titles: reference book formerly published by the Department of Labor with job titles, descriptions, and official classifications, discontinued in 1999 and replaced by the online Occupational Informational Network.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dot (1 of 2)

dot1

/ (dɒt) /

noun

  1. a small round mark made with or as with a pen, etc; spot; speck; point

  2. anything resembling a dot; a small amount: a dot of paint

  1. the mark (˙) that appears above the main stem of the letters i, j

  2. music

    • the symbol (·) placed after a note or rest to increase its time value by half

    • this symbol written above or below a note indicating that it must be played or sung staccato

  3. maths logic

    • the symbol (.) indicating multiplication or logical conjunction

    • a decimal point

  4. the symbol (·) used, in combination with the symbol for dash (–), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codes: Compare dit

  5. the year dot informal as long ago as can be remembered

  6. on the dot at exactly the arranged time

verbdots, dotting or dotted

  1. (tr) to mark or form with a dot: to dot a letter; a dotted crotchet

  2. (tr) to scatter or intersperse (with dots or something resembling dots): bushes dotting the plain

  1. (intr) to make a dot or dots

  2. dot one's i's and cross one's t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

Origin of dot

1
Old English dott head of a boil; related to Old High German tutta nipple, Norwegian dott, Dutch dott lump

Derived forms of dot

  • dotter, noun

British Dictionary definitions for dot (2 of 2)

dot2

/ (dɒt) /

noun

  1. civil law a woman's dowry

Origin of dot

2
C19: from French, from Latin dōs; related to dōtāre to endow, dāre to give

Derived forms of dot

  • dotal (ˈdəʊtəl), adjective

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

Scientific definitions for dot

dot

[ dŏt ]

  1. A symbol (·) indicating multiplication, as in 2 · 4 = 8. It is used to indicate the dot product of vectors, for example A · B.

  2. A period, as used as in URLs and e-mail addresses, to separate strings of words, as in www.hmco.com.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with dot

dot

In addition to the idiom beginning with dot

  • dot the i's and cross the t's

also see:

  • on the dot
  • sign on the dotted line

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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