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

• bread [slang]
• bucks
• cabbage [slang]
• cash
• change
• chips
• coin
• currency
• gold
• green
• jack [slang]
• kale [slang]
• legal tender
• lolly [British]
• long green [slang]
• loot
• lucre
• money
• moola [slang]
• moolah
• needful
• pelf
• scratch [slang]
• shekels
• sheqels
• shekelim
• shekalim
• sheqalim
• tender
• wampum

Example Sentences

I don't have much dough.

didn't have to spend a lot of dough for a new stereo

Recent Examples on the Web

What’s your favorite treat? Cookie dough, especially from Eat Pastry. —Fortune Editors, Fortune Well, 29 May 2023

Staff will scoop eight flavors of vegan ice cream like pistachio, banana pudding and Howard’s favorite, cookie dough. —Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 12 May 2023

Press 5 to 6 additional chocolate chips in the tops of each ball of dough. —Beth Branch, Country Living, 9 May 2023

Using a 1-ounce scoop, portion dough onto one prepared baking sheet. —People Staff, Peoplemag, 5 May 2023

Vigil updated the recipe, traditionally composed of flour and the special lard that makes Argentine empanada dough so delicate and flaky, with a blend of beef tallow and pork lard, as well as changed the bread’s shape. —Katie Kelly Bell, Robb Report, 22 Apr. 2023

Then there’s the buttery dough reimagined into cube shapes, instead of crescents, with creamy centers. —Ann Trieger Kurland, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Apr. 2023

Wet and dry ingredients are mixed to form a dough that is heated under pressure and pushed through a die machine that cuts it into the kibble pieces. —Julie Creswell, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023

Get the Brisket Samosas recipe at Blend of Spice. 4 Bagel Bites These bagel bites are made of a soft, pillowy dough and then filled with cream cheese. —Manal Aman, Woman's Day Magazine, 8 Apr. 2023

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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
• rolling in (the) dough

• dough box
• rolling in (the) dough

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