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

• bread [slang]
• bucks
• cabbage [slang]
• cash
• change
• chips
• coin
• currency
• gold
• green
• jack [slang]
• kale [slang]
• legal tender
• lolly [British]
• long green [slang]
• loot
• lucre
• money
• moola [slang]
• moolah
• needful
• pelf
• scratch [slang]
• shekels
• sheqels
• shekelim
• shekalim
• sheqalim
• tender
• wampum

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

Instead of folding in grated carrots or using purée, developer Julia Levy reduces bottled carrot juice until syrupy, then blends it right into the dough. —Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Apr. 2025

To make ahead: Make and shape the dough and leave them, covered, in the refrigerator overnight. —Nicole Hvidsten, Boston Herald, 16 Apr. 2025

But a rolling pin with numeric markers provides an easy cheat when measuring out the length or diameter of doughs. —Lauren Joseph, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Apr. 2025

Add remaining 1 cup buttermilk, and mix until combined into a shaggy dough that is just beginning to hold together—try not to overwork the dough. —Ana Calderone, People.com, 10 Apr. 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