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

Sangak — the other, flatter bread, traditionally cooked by spreading the dough over stones — line the plates under the kebabs, deliciously collecting their juices. —Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026

Until the dough factory opens, the Island Avenue location, which has a dough-prep kitchen in its basement, can supply the future North County location. —Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026

Milwaukee Pretzel Company workers twisted hundreds of dough logs into pretzels, baked them in the oven, then placed the trays in front of industrial-size cooling fans. —Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 21 Jan. 2026

Buttermilk provides a light texture to the dumplings, when the dumpling dough is ready, drop it into the hot broth. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 21 Jan. 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
• 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