dozen

¹ American  

[duhz-uhn] / ˈdʌz ən /

noun

dozens plural

1. a group of 12.

2. Slang. the dozens, a ritualized game typically engaged in by two persons each of whom attempts to outdo the other in insults directed against members of the other's family (usually used in the phraseplay the dozens ).

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adjective

1. twelve.

dozen ² American  

[doh-zuhn] / ˈdoʊ zən /

verb (used with object)

Scot.

1. to stun.

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dozen British  

/ ˈdʌzən /

determiner

1. 1. twelve or a group of twelve

      a dozen eggs

      two dozen oranges

   2. ( as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural )

      give me a dozen

      there are at least a dozen who haven't arrived yet

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noun

1. in large quantities

2. See baker's dozen

3. to talk without stopping

dozen Idioms  

1. see baker's dozen; by the dozen; daily dozen; dime a dozen; six of one, half dozen of the other.

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Other Word Forms

• dozenth
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dozen¹

1250–1300; Middle English dozeine < Old French do ( u ) zaine, equivalent to do ( u ) ze (< Latin duodecim ) + -aine (< Latin -āna ) -an

Origin of dozen²

1325–75; Middle English (Scots); see doze ¹

Explanation

A dozen is twelve. If you buy a dozen doughnuts for six people, everyone will get to eat two of them. When you buy a dozen of something, you'll end up with twelve items. Your cat might, amazingly, have a dozen kittens, leading you to make a dozen phone calls trying to find homes for them all. Sometimes people use the word dozens to generically mean "a whole lot," as when you gasp, "There are dozens of seagulls sitting on my car!" Dozen has a Latin root, duodecim, "twelve."

Example Sentences

There are 12 key species known collectively as the Dirty Dozen.

From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2026

Often arguing among themselves, when they aren’t insulting one another, the agents seem less Impossible Mission Force than Dirty Half Dozen.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2025

But his big break was in The Dirty Dozen, in which, at first, he had a non-speaking part but was picked for something far bigger, apparently at random, by director Bob Aldrich.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2024

Most of the pesticides detected on the Dirty Dozen are legal, but one exception is acephate, an organophosphate insecticide that is essentially prohibited for use on green beans but is still found on them.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 2024

"Himself. And a chauffeur in livery. Going to drive me around and have breakfast in the Bois. Hampers. Got it all at Zelli's. Dozen bottles of Mumms. Tempt you?"

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Related Words

• twelve