dough
Americannoun
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flour or meal combined with water, milk, etc., in a mass for baking into bread, cake, etc.; paste of bread.
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any similar soft, pasty mass.
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Slang. money.
noun
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a thick mixture of flour or meal and water or milk, used for making bread, pastry, etc
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any similar pasty mass
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a slang word for money
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dough
before 1000; Middle English do ( u ) gh, do ( u ) h, dou ( e ), Old English dāg, dāh; cognate with Dutch deeg, Old Norse deig, Gothic daigs, German Teig
Explanation
Dough is a thick mixture of flour and other ingredients that can be kneaded, baked, and eaten. Bread dough needs to rise before you bake it in a hot oven. Many baked goods begin their lives as dough, including bread, rolls, and some cookies. Dough is stiff enough that you can shape it, pull pieces off of it, stretch it and knead it. Informally, dough can also mean "money." If your friend says, "I make so much dough waiting tables!" he probably means money, not cookie dough. The word comes from an Indo-European root that means "smear" or "knead."
Vocabulary lists containing dough
Tax Day Words
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Passover Vocabulary
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A Toast to Bread
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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.
It’s packed with salt, acidity and concentrated olive flavor that can add depth to everything from marinades to bread dough.
From Salon • Jul. 7, 2026
Remember what I said about using sun-dried tomato oil in focaccia dough?
From Salon • Jul. 7, 2026
Typically, it’s best to hold onto a property for five years to at least get your money back or earn some dough through appreciation.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
Sitting on the ground, a woman and her daughter assembled the dough in circles Gaza-style, before a man baked them in a makeshift clay oven.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Ivan stood beside Anya with his sleeves rolled up past his elbows, wrestling with the dough she had given him.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
