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

These include teacups, dough bowls and ice cream pedestal dishes. —Sarah Kyrcz, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2026

Bricken started over at age 50 and worked 20-hour days to build the cookie dough empire that produces more than a million cookie dough and gelato bites every single week. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 27 Apr. 2026

The Salvadorian delicacy is a masa or cornmeal patty or dough cake that’s stuffed with fillings like meat, beans, cheese, and veggies. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 26 Apr. 2026

Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). —Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Apr. 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