dough

American  

[doh] / doʊ /

noun

• doughs
  plural

1. flour or meal combined with water, milk, etc., in a mass for baking into bread, cake, etc.; paste of bread.

2. any similar soft, pasty mass.

3. Slang. money.

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dough British  

/ dəʊ /

noun

1. a thick mixture of flour or meal and water or milk, used for making bread, pastry, etc

2. any similar pasty mass

3. a slang word for money

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• doughlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• doughs
  plural

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dough doughs

Regular diners can progress through a bronze, silver and gold system unlocking perks from free dough balls to hot and soft drinks on the house.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

All the introverted Tucker had to do was be his normal self with the understanding that no one expected him to live up to that Ohtani-type contract, that Juan Soto-esque dough, that Aaron Judge-level cheddar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Some of what you need may come from the market, especially at one with eggs, cheese, dairy or even pizza dough on offer; the rest can happily come from your pantry or the supermarket.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Spicy, sweet and curiously chewy, Chinese latiao -- literally "spicy strips" -- are made by cooking wheat flour dough at a high temperature and pressure.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

The way she’d adjust her glasses with the back of her wrist when her fingers were caked with dough.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

You also need time: Almost all doughs in the book require at least an overnight fermentation to improve their flavor, rise and handling capability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

I've been hurt by starters that would never become sufficiently foamy, by doughs that sullenly refused to rise, by boules that baked into oversized hockey pucks.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2023

If you have storage space, you can make most cookie doughs and refrigerate or even freeze them.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2022

The highly rated Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer in Empire Red from KitchenAid can produce nine dozen cookies in a single take, as well as cakes, doughs and other torments for the Keto-obsessed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2022

The proportions of liquid to flour for the various kinds of cake mixtures do not differ materially from those of the batters and doughs given in Hot Breads.

From Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 4: Salads and Sandwiches; Cold and Frozen Desserts; Cakes, Cookies and Puddings; Pastries and Pies by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

Related Words

• bread
• cabbage
• lettuce