dozen

noun

doz·​en ˈdə-zᵊn 

plural dozens or dozen

1

: a group of 12

roses sold by the dozen

2

: an indefinitely large number

dozens of times

Dozens of people were at the park.

3

the dozens plural in form but singular in construction, African American English : a ritualized African American word game that consists of exchanging insults usually about the members of an opponent's family

… He also likes to crack jokes. On this side of the diaspora, we would call that playing the dozens. That's also a big part of hip-hop culture.

—Tressie McMillan Cottom

In African American culture there is a verbal game of teasing known as "playing the dozens" consisting of two people, typically males, trading insults about each other and their family members.

—Leon Williams

compare capping entry 2, joning

dozen adjective

dozenth

ˈdə-zᵊn(t)th 

adjective

I'm telling you for the dozenth time.

Synonyms of dozen

• ton
• loads
• plenty
• slew
• bunch
• hundred
• lot
• deal
• pile
• chunk
• quantity
• raft

Examples of dozen in a Sentence

dozens of new songs were auditioned and rejected

Recent Examples on the Web

The deal is Ascentium’s most recent in more than a dozen acquisitions, plugging a gap in the company’s mainland China coverage while deepening its footprint in hot Southeast Asian growth markets. —Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026

In the eight-part audio drama Babalu, Sherry Zhang died by suicide in 1989, leaving behind a baby daughter Luisa and, unbeknownst to her family, dozens of cassette tapes recording her innermost thoughts. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2026

Another part of the campus has dozens of roofs just sticking above the ground as the shingles freeze and bake and are soaked by Mother Nature sometimes for more than a decade for more testing. —ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026

The aquarium features hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and dozens of habitats filled with nearly 8,000 animals, including sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and jellyfish. —Taylor Haught, Kansas City Star, 21 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dozeine, from Anglo-French duzeine, dozeyne, from duze twelve, from Latin duodecim, from duo two + decem ten — more at two, ten

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dozen

• a dime a dozen
• baker's dozen
• daily dozen
• half a dozen
• half dozen
• it's six of one and half a dozen of the other
• it's six of one, half (a) dozen of the other
• several dozen
• talk nineteen to the dozen

Kids Definition

dozen

noun

doz·​en ˈdəz-ᵊn 

plural dozens or dozen

: a group of twelve

dozen adjective

dozenth

-ᵊn(t)th 

adjective

Etymology

Middle English dozeine "dozen," from early French dozeyne (same meaning), derived from Latin duodecim "twelve," from duo "two" and decem "ten" — related to decimal, dime, dual