as in blows
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
those soccer hooligans need a sound douse or two from a police officer's club
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in removes
to rid oneself of (a garment)
in those days a gentleman would douse his hat when going indoors
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also dowses
1
as in extinguishes
to cause to cease burning
douse the campfire before leaving in the morning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in drowns
to make wet
the heavy rains thoroughly doused the tourists strolling the town streets
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of douses
Jenny Berg, Vogue, 11 Nov. 2025
Outside, the rain douses the flames at the cooperage, but the situation still seems a bit explosive.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
The formula is enriched with Japanese red camellia oil, a lightweight, fast-absorbing ingredient that douses the hair in antioxidants.
—Jenny Berg, Vogue, 11 Nov. 2025
Outside, the rain douses the flames at the cooperage, but the situation still seems a bit explosive.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for douses
Noun
-
In the first half, both teams traded blows, with the largest lead being seven by the Bulldogs.—
Mukala Kabongo,
Boston Herald,
19 Feb. 2026
-
He is seen performing first aid, administering back blows to the infant to remove the blockage.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In this world, items are paid for by receiving slaps to the face.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Europe has long underspent on defense, and where American cajoling for decades had not worked, a few face slaps succeeded.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
During two recent wintry swipes in North Georgia, drivers largely abided by the directive to keep off the roads.—
Doug Turnbull,
AJC.com,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Altman and other senior executives took to social media to respond to swipes from Anthropic, which ran Super Bowl ads that poked fun at OpenAI's decision to run ads within ChatGPT.—
Ashley Capoot,Kate Rooney,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In Guyana’s capital city of Georgetown, neighbors can still hear the thumps.—
Tyler Jett,
Des Moines Register,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The star then grabbed a bat and took several whacks at a colorful piñata shaped like a cascaron.—
René Guzman,
San Antonio Express-News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Deeper down the road the slap of the drooping tropical tree branches against the windshield are like punishing whacks to the face for trying to force a metaphor.—
Matt Negrin,
Rolling Stone,
20 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In his teens and early 20s, a variety of knocks and muscle strains — plus a variety of coaches with fluctuating opinions of him — complicated his development.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
-
The story draws from Filipino urban folklore, specifically a childhood ritual involving mirrors, candles and three knocks that serves as the narrative’s foundation.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
3 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Eventually, Ginger's playful touches turn to rowdy smacks on Jesse's behind.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Some biologists argue that more frequent smacks are a sign of rising ocean temperatures.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
After ensuring the donor area is properly numbed, the medical team will remove individual hair grafts one by one with tiny punches.—
Ethan Stone,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Through punches and pummeling, cheating and cursing, their bond remained (mostly) intact.—
Jillian Sederholm,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Douses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/douses. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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