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

Use the scraper to cut butter, fold dough and nudge it into shape, transfer it from counter to plastic wrap, trim edges, cut strips, and, sure, scrape flour off your counter. — Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2026

These lightly sweet, brioche-like buns are often decorated with strips of dough on top to resemble bones. — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 30 Oct. 2026

George pounds, folds, and squeezes the dough as Minicuci watches. — HubSpot, 30 Oct. 2026

The bread’s round shape represents the circle of life, and it’s topped with small dough strips to look like bones. — Daniela Cintron, AJC.com, 29 Oct. 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
• beaut
• beaux
• blow
• 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