doughboy

American  

[doh-boi] / ˈdoʊˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. Informal. an American infantryman, especially in World War I.

2. a rounded mass of dough, boiled or steamed as a dumpling or deep-fried and served as a hot bread.

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doughboy British  

/ ˈdəʊˌbɔɪ /

noun

1. informal an infantryman, esp in World War I

2. dough that is boiled or steamed as a dumpling

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Etymology

Origin of doughboy

1675–85; dough + boy; sense “infantryman,” from mid-1860s, is obscurely derived; two plausible, but unsubstantiated claims: doughboy originally referred to the globular brass buttons on infantry uniforms, likened to the pastry; dough referred to a clay used to clean the white uniform belts

Example Sentences

The engineers have gathered detailed calculations on how high each of the 16 giant balloons this year — including the Pillsbury Doughboy and Kung Fu Panda’s Po — can safely go at various wind speeds.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2023

Yet the real coup was casting Ice Cube as belligerent gang member Doughboy, a role that set the former N.W.A. star on the road to celluloid stardom.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2019

Singleton wrote the part of Doughboy specifically for Ice Cube, but when he tried to cast Cube’s bandmates from N.W.A, executives refused because they didn’t know who they were.

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2019

Their names are listed among the 86 names on Chambersburg’s Doughboy stature on Lincoln Way East.

From Washington Times • Nov. 17, 2018

"Doughboy" is the term applied to an infantry soldier.

From Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks or, Two Recruits in the United States Army by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)