Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To plunge into liquid; immerse. See Synonyms at dip.
- v. To wet thoroughly; drench.
- v. To put out (a light or fire); extinguish.
- v. To become thoroughly wet.
- n. A thorough drenching.
- v. Variant of dowse1.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To thrust or plunge into a fluid; immerse; dip; also, to drench or flood with a fluid.
- To fall or be plunged suddenly into a fluid.
- To search for deposits of ore, for lodes, or for water, by the aid of the dousing- or divining-rod (which see).
- To strike.
- Nautical, to strike or lower in haste; slacken suddenly: as, douse the topsail.
- n. A blow; a stroke.
- To put out; extinguish.
Wiktionary
- v. To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse; to dowse.
- v. To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly; as, douse the topsail.
- v. To fall suddenly into water.
- v. To put out; to extinguish.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse; to dowse.
- v. To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly.
- v. To fall suddenly into water.
- v. To put out; to extinguish.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cover with liquid; pour liquid onto
- v. put out, as of a candle or a light
- v. dip into a liquid
- v. immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
- v. wet thoroughly
- v. lower quickly
- v. slacken.
Etymologies
- From obsolete douse, to strike.
Examples
“Thanks for "douse" which reminds me of a reflexive verb that I had wanted to include in the story: "se tartiner".”
“And, one day, a first person account of what it's actually like to "douse" Mer Whit "with ... champagne.”
“Just grate orange peel into a mason jar, pierce the skin of the pepper, douse in vodka, seal, wait three days and then filter out the pepper and orange.”
“What I do know is that people in both México and the U.S. are going to have to get over their fears and work together to douse the fires that are spreading in both houses.”
“Crude oil prices alone could douse this euphoria soon.”
“Because the insurance companies that provided the fire departments that would only douse the fires of individual policy holders?”
Think Progress » Pawlenty completes global warming flip-flop, calls cap and trade a ‘disaster.’
“WASHINGTON--Amid a growing air of desperation, world financial leaders on Saturday said they are scrambling to douse the European debt crisis that threatens to spark another global financial meltdown.”
“The reactor boasts a concrete basin designed to trap and douse the reactor core in the event of a meltdown.”
The Wall Street Journal: Areva High-Tech Reactor Hits New Snag
“Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, apparently concerned over the impact on Thailand's huge tourism industry, tried to douse safety fears Monday, telling reporters that the situation in Bangkok was normal.”
The Wall Street Journal: Thai Police Seize Materials, Charge Terror-Plot Suspect
“He added that Malaysia's gross domestic product expansion should slow to around 3.8% this year as global debt problems douse demand in Europe and the U.S. He said he believes Indonesia's economy will remain resilient, while neighboring Singapore could slip into a recession as export demand wanes, though he believes growth will pick up toward year-end.”
The Wall Street Journal: Malaysia's CIMB Bank Optimistic About Indonesian Banking
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘douse’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
-
3/4 year Vocab List
garbled, verbose, behoove, runt, douse, stipulate, condolence, incongruous, mundane, euphemism, brusque, labyrinth and 96 more...
-
3/4 year Vocab List
lackluster, reprimand, loathe, abhor, willful, ample, tremulous, ominous, subtle, rescind, redundant, pretentious and 96 more...
-
Duck!
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, or quacks like a duck, then you should probably list it here.
duck, Duck, turducken, duckling, duck tape, Mallard, rubber duckie, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, lame duck, ducky, ducks and 80 more...
-
Vocab #12
Mrs. Wilson's Class 2012
euphemism, mundane, incongruous, condolence, stipulate, douse, runt, behoove, verbose, garbled
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.