donut

1 of 2

noun (1)

do·​nut

less common spelling of doughnut

1

: a small usually ring-shaped piece of sweet fried dough

2

: something (such as a mathematical torus) that has a round shape like a doughnut

3

: a controlled skid that sends an automobile into a tight circle of at least 360 degrees

—usually used in the phrase do doughnuts

Doing doughnuts? You haven't heard about this? This is what they steal the cars for. Top speed, they slam on the brakes, yank the emergency brake, twist the steering wheel, and the car starts spinning. Wheeling the car in circles at tremendous speeds.

—Philip Roth

doughnut

2 of 2

noun (2)

dough·​nut ˈdō-(ˌ)nət 

variants or less commonly donut

1

: a small usually ring-shaped piece of sweet fried dough

2

: something (such as a mathematical torus) that has a round shape like a doughnut

3

: a controlled skid that sends an automobile into a tight circle of at least 360 degrees

—usually used in the phrase do doughnuts

Doing doughnuts? You haven't heard about this? This is what they steal the cars for. Top speed, they slam on the brakes, yank the emergency brake, twist the steering wheel, and the car starts spinning. Wheeling the car in circles at tremendous speeds.

—Philip Roth

doughnutlike

ˈdō-(ˌ)nət-ˌlīk 

adjective

Examples of donut in a Sentence

Noun (2)

drawing doughnuts in the sand

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Over boxes of donuts and steaming coffee cups, faith leaders, immigrant rights advocates and community members gathered at the Capitol Tuesday morning to rally behind legislation that would impose financial penalties on private detention centers. — Sofia Williams, Sacbee.com, 9 Sep. 2026

The disk of gas around the black hole becomes geometrically thick, forming a donut-like structure with a narrow funnel along the rotation axis. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 2 Sep. 2026

Noun

The economics of doughnuts by themselves don't make a lot of sense, but that is not Walmart's goal. — Kevin Williams, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2026

The only dessert option at Hurly-Burly is the mini apple cider doughnuts served with a sweet-and-salty miso-caramel sauce. — Megan Dubois, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (2)

dough + nut entry 1 (in sense "rounded cake or biscuit," as in ginger nut, spice nut)

First Known Use

Noun (2)

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing donut

• doughnut hole

Rhymes for donut

• abut
• catgut
• chesnut
• chestnut
• doughnut
• groundnut
• haircut
• hindgut
• midgut
• precut
• rebut
• recut