douse
Americanverb (used with object)
-
douses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
doused,
past participle, past
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dousing
present participle
-
to plunge into water or the like; drench.
She doused the clothes in soapy water.
-
to splash or throw water or other liquid on.
The children doused each other with the hose.
-
to extinguish.
She quickly doused the candle's flame with her fingertips.
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Informal. to remove; doff.
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Nautical.
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to lower or take in (a sail, mast, or the like) suddenly.
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to slacken (a line) suddenly.
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to stow quickly.
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verb (used without object)
-
douses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
doused,
past participle, past
-
dousing
present participle
noun
verb
-
to plunge or be plunged into water or some other liquid; duck
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(tr) to drench with water, esp in order to wash or clean
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(tr) to put out (a light, candle, etc)
noun
verb
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nautical to lower (sail) quickly
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archaic to strike or beat
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dousesimple
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dousessimple
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have dousedperfect
-
has dousedperfect
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am dousingprogressive
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are dousingprogressive
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is dousingprogressive
-
have been dousingperfect progressive
-
has been dousingperfect progressive
Past
-
dousedsimple
-
had dousedperfect
-
was dousingprogressive
-
were dousingprogressive
-
had been dousingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of douse
First recorded in 1590–1600; origin uncertain
Explanation
Use the verb douse to describe covering something with water or other liquid. When you're camping, you douse the campfire with water when you're done with it. Douse often involves water, but you could also douse your French fries in ketchup. Douse can describe the act of extinguishing a candle, or even turning off a light. You might douse your bedroom light when it's time to sleep or simply douse a candle by blowing it out. Douse is most commonly pronounced to rhyme with mouse.
Vocabulary lists containing douse
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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.
See Examples For:
Footage circulated on social media showing a plume of smoke rising from the aircraft, as firefighters were deployed to douse the flames.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Down the road near Chippenham, Godwin's family have gone a step further, installing a network of what they call 'cow showers'- sprinklers that douse the cattle with cool water.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Helicopters piloted by emergency responders flew sorties to deliver water in a bid to douse the fires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Julian wants to destroy the unfinished Christophers, but can’t bring himself to douse the canvases in kerosene and light the match.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2026
“Maybe we need a magnifying glass. Maybe we need a microscope. Maybe we need to douse the wall with lemon juice or some other reagent.”
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
He no longer douses his sponge with dish liquid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
Today, the tree foundation’s Green Blocks program douses neighborhoods in green, providing hundreds of free trees ranging from species like Bing cherry and fig to white pine, cedar and fir.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
The Philippous’ kinetic style mashes genre cinema with beloved intellectual property, douses the combination with accelerant and lights a match; it’s the product of their personalities as much as YouTube’s milieu.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
Then Chambers douses a Confederate flag with gasoline and lights it on fire.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2022
I shake it, and when he pulls away, his mother—her eyes still locked on me—unsnaps a keychain-Purell and vigorously douses Jordan in it, practically giving him an entire hospital bath.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
For decades, research has extolled the benefits of a Mediterranean diet low in sugar, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and doused in olive oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The Gironde wildfires might be under relative control for now, but they are far from doused.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
He said he ran to save a trailer that was ablaze and even caught fire himself before firefighters doused him and the vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
He posted a video on TikTok of his experiment: Spending the day in clothes doused with an entire bottle of Axe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
He doused his headlights and quietly coasted to a stop.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
Regional firefighting chief Marc Vermeulen warned his teams would still have to spend several days dousing water on remaining flames inside the forest as well as at its edges to avoid it picking up again.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
On Wednesday, Powell broached the issue when dousing speculation about a leadership vacuum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
She said urban water systems and neighbourhood fire hydrants are not built to handle dousing thousands of acres of fire.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2025
Orlandini evacuated his family to Rancho Cucamonga but arrived back home in the early morning darkness to find other neighbors dousing homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
Piper brought out her new horn of plenty and, on Percy’s direction, willed it to spew Diet Coke, which came out with the strength of a fire hose, dousing the enemy deck.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
