dough

noun

ˈdō 

1

: a mixture that consists essentially of flour or meal and a liquid (such as milk or water) and is stiff enough to knead or roll

2

: something resembling dough especially in consistency

3

: money

doesn't have much dough

4

military : doughboy

doughlike

ˈdō-ˌlīk 

adjective

Synonyms of dough

• money
• cash
• coin
• currency

Examples of dough in a Sentence

I don't have much dough.

didn't have to spend a lot of dough for a new stereo

Recent Examples on the Web

Combine pizza dough from the deli and pimiento cheese for a delicious, fast-fix appetizer. —Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 20 June 2026

The same pillowy, pull-apart dough gets spread with garlic-herb butter and layered with mozzarella, sharp white cheddar, and Parmesan before being rolled, sliced, and baked until golden. —Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 June 2026

Our step-by-step instructions walk you through making pâte à choux dough, essential for the crisp golden puffs. —Lynn Andriani, Martha Stewart, 19 June 2026

My personal favorite is A Pizzeri, where Michele, its pizza master, slowly ferments his dough everyday and maintains a large stack of olive branches for firewood. —Denny Lee, Travel + Leisure, 16 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English doh, dogh, dowe, going back to Old English dāg, going back to Germanic *daiga- (whence Middle Dutch deech "dough," Old High German teig, Old Norse deig, deigr, Gothic daigs), ablaut derivative from the base of *digan-, *dīgan- "to knead, shape" (whence Gothic digan, gadigan "to knead, form from clay"), going back to Indo-European *d^hei̯ǵ^h- "knead, shape" — more at feign

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dough

• dough box
• mother dough
• rolling in (the) dough

Rhymes for dough

• beau
• beaut
• beaux
• blow
• bro
• coe
• crow
• doe
• doh
• eau
• eaux
• faux

Kids Definition

dough

noun

ˈdō 

1

: a soft mass of moistened flour or meal thick enough to knead or roll

2

: something resembling dough especially in consistency

3

: money sense 1a

doughy

ˈdō-ē

adjective