variants
or less commonly dowse
doused also dowsed; dousing also dowsing
1
: to plunge into water
Blanch the green beans then douse them in a bath of ice water.
2
3
[originally in argot use (douse the glim meaning "extinguish the light") and perhaps of distinct origin]
: extinguish
douse the lights
douse the blaze
: to fall or become plunged into water
douser
noun
or less commonly dowser
doused; dousing
Synonyms
Verb (1)
Noun (2)
- bang
- bash
- bat
- beat
- belt
- biff
- blow
- bop
- box
- buffet
- bust
- chop
- clap
- clip
- clout
- crack
- cuff
- dab
- fillip
- hack
- haymaker
- hit
- hook
- knock
- larrup [dialect]
- lash
- lick
- pelt
- pick
- plump
- poke
- pound
- punch
- rap
- slam
- slap
- slug
- smack
- smash
- sock
- spank
- stinger
- stripe
- stroke
- swat
- swipe
- switch
- thud
- thump
- thwack
- wallop
- welt
- whack
- wham
- whop
- whap
Examples of douse in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jennifer Barger, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
In Hawaii, shops that serve shave ice, domes of pillowy-soft ice slivers doused in colorful syrups, vie for ubiquity with other local staples like poke places or lei stands.
—Matthew Dekneef, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
They have been attacked with pepper spray, burned with hot coffee, and doused in urine and spit.
—Kristin J. Bender, The Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2024
The children were doused with water, made to stay outside and forced to do labor, such as moving boxes.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
Firefighters remained on the scene to douse flames from the burning vehicle.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024
And while Slaughter is happy to humor conversation about what goes on behind the curtain in pro wrestling, his perspective will always be doused with portions of his onscreen character.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
The city is famous as the home of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce—a dark, sweet yet sour, almost indescribably English condiment, first sold by a pair of chemists in 1837—which has been doused on two centuries’ worth of shepherd’s pie and other stodgy lunches.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Firefighters doused some smoldering embers and departed.
—Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
Raf Casert, Fortune Europe, 1 Feb. 2024
Greece’s state broadcaster ERT aired footage showing a yellow aircraft releasing water to douse burning trees before appearing to crash and burst into flames.
—Ellen Francis, Washington Post, 26 July 2023
For the sixth day in a row, firefighters were battling on Sunday to douse blazes on the Greek island of Rhodes that have trapped thousands of tourists and locals, forcing many to spend the night in hotel lobbies, gymnasiums, schools or boats docked at the port.
—Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times, 24 July 2023
The military has used them in foams to help douse fires that involve oil.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 23 June 2023
The raging fire — in the 11400 block of Nardin Park, north of I-96 and Grand River — broke out at about 6:30 a.m. and took nearly four hours to douse, Detroit Fire Chief James Harris said.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 30 Mar. 2023
Even the New York-style dogs, made with chuck that chef Logan Gates butchers from the cow, stuffs into a casing and douses in mustard and sauerkraut on a soft split-top bun from Old School Bakery in Delray Beach.
—Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2023
My favorite choice here was the Straight Up burger which started with a toasted bun, a smash burger-style patty with cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and a good douse of Fieri’s signature Donkey Sauce, which is essentially garlic aioli.
—Megan Dubois, Chron, 31 Dec. 2022
In between soccer drills and physical and mental health sessions, campers cool off with a douse of water.
—Khalin Kapoor, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2022
Verb
Then wipe the outside of the window with a wet rag, followed by a pass with a microfiber cloth doused in your solution.
—Jennifer Barger, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
In Hawaii, shops that serve shave ice, domes of pillowy-soft ice slivers doused in colorful syrups, vie for ubiquity with other local staples like poke places or lei stands.
—Matthew Dekneef, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
They have been attacked with pepper spray, burned with hot coffee, and doused in urine and spit.
—Kristin J. Bender, The Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2024
The children were doused with water, made to stay outside and forced to do labor, such as moving boxes.
—Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
Firefighters remained on the scene to douse flames from the burning vehicle.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024
And while Slaughter is happy to humor conversation about what goes on behind the curtain in pro wrestling, his perspective will always be doused with portions of his onscreen character.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
The city is famous as the home of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce—a dark, sweet yet sour, almost indescribably English condiment, first sold by a pair of chemists in 1837—which has been doused on two centuries’ worth of shepherd’s pie and other stodgy lunches.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Firefighters doused some smoldering embers and departed.
—Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
Noun
With thick smoke from burning bales of hay hanging over parts of Belgian capital, security forces used water cannons to douse fires and keep a farmer from felling a tree on the steps of the European Parliament.
—Raf Casert, Fortune Europe, 1 Feb. 2024
Greece’s state broadcaster ERT aired footage showing a yellow aircraft releasing water to douse burning trees before appearing to crash and burst into flames.
—Ellen Francis, Washington Post, 26 July 2023
For the sixth day in a row, firefighters were battling on Sunday to douse blazes on the Greek island of Rhodes that have trapped thousands of tourists and locals, forcing many to spend the night in hotel lobbies, gymnasiums, schools or boats docked at the port.
—Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times, 24 July 2023
The military has used them in foams to help douse fires that involve oil.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 23 June 2023
The raging fire — in the 11400 block of Nardin Park, north of I-96 and Grand River — broke out at about 6:30 a.m. and took nearly four hours to douse, Detroit Fire Chief James Harris said.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 30 Mar. 2023
Even the New York-style dogs, made with chuck that chef Logan Gates butchers from the cow, stuffs into a casing and douses in mustard and sauerkraut on a soft split-top bun from Old School Bakery in Delray Beach.
—Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2023
My favorite choice here was the Straight Up burger which started with a toasted bun, a smash burger-style patty with cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and a good douse of Fieri’s signature Donkey Sauce, which is essentially garlic aioli.
—Megan Dubois, Chron, 31 Dec. 2022
In between soccer drills and physical and mental health sessions, campers cool off with a douse of water.
—Khalin Kapoor, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'douse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near douse
Cite this Entry
“Douse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/douse. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share