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

• 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

Use a #40 cookie scoop or a tablespoon to form 2-tablespoon cookie dough balls. —Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Oct. 2025

Make sure to grab one of their conchas, a Mexican brioche-like sweet dough topped with a crispy topping. —Megan Margulies, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2025

The hand blender also comes with dough hooks for effortless kneading and a blending rod for soups and smoothies. —Mark Marino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 Oct. 2025

Chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, and raw dough all pose serious risks due to toxic ingredients or fermentation byproducts. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025

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
• beaux
• blow
• boe
• 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