doughnut

noun

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 doughnut in a Sentence

drawing doughnuts in the sand

Recent Examples on the Web

Workers in the area frequently grab coffee and breakfast at the doughnut shop before heading to work. —Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025

For simplification, the drawing of the gross code on the left above has been transformed into a symbolic torus (doughnut) in the drawing on the right; that torus has 12 logical qubits consisting of approximately 288 physical qubits, accompanied by the LPU. —Paul Smith-Goodson, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025

More sweet treats were used to trap the bear, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission Lt. Andy Harvey, who told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the bear was caught using doughnuts and pastries as bait. —Mike Stunson, Miami Herald, 9 June 2025

Here’s a list of doughnut deals across the country. —Cate Martel, The Hill, 6 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for doughnut

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

Kids Definition

doughnut

noun

dough·​nut

variants also donut

-(ˌ)nət

1

: a small ring of sweet dough fried in fat

2

: something resembling a doughnut especially in shape