dose en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈdɵ̞ʊ̯s/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈdɔʊ̯s/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˈdɔʊ̯s/ (California)
- /ˈdəʉ̯s/ (Australia)
- /ˈdɐʉ̯s/ (Australia) some speakers
- [ˈdɛʊ̯s] (California) California Vowel Shift
- /ˈdoʊ̯s/ (Canada, General-American)
- [ˈdeʊ̯s] (California) California Vowel Shift
- /ˈdɐʉ̯s/ (New-Zealand)
- (California, Southern) audio
- /ˈdoʊ̯s/ (California)
- /ˈdəʊ̯s/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French dose, from Late Latin dosis, from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “a portion prescribed”, literally “a giving”), used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Mostly displaced English drench. Doublet of doos.
Meanings
-
A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
Why did he give you only a single 500 mg dose? The correct dosage of this antibiotic is one 500 mg tablet twice a day for 10 days.
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The quantity of an agent (not always active), substance, or radiation administered or experienced at any one time.
Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death. Nowadays workers are exposed to far lower doses and manganism is rare.
2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
- (dated, figuratively) Anything disagreeable that must be taken.
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(figuratively) A good measure or lengthy experience of something.
a healthy dose of skepticism.
The prospect of becoming a father is a dose of reality that threatens to bring his dream world crashing down.
2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 78:People who don't get their daily dose of light at the right time of day can end up with worse health.
2025 December 9, Veronique Greenwood, “Your Bedroom Probably Isn't Dark Enough”, in TIME:“I had then, as you remember, just returned to London after a lot of Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas - a regular dose of the East - six years or so, and I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilise you.”
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 197:
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(dated) A venereal infection.
It would be very expensive to cure a dose here, as well as unbelievably painful.
1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 382:Don't give a dose to the one you love most. / Give her some marmalade... give her some toast.
1972, Shel Silverstein, “Don't Give A Dose to the One You Love Most”:
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(Ireland, colloquial) A cold; a common, viral illness of the nasal passage, sometimes with fever.
There's a dose going round.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| doses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
macrodose · multidose · dose rate · semilethal dose · black dose · isodose · low-dose CT scanning · the dose makes the poison · elephant dose · effective dose · dosemeter · megadose · flight-time equivalent dose · postdose · predose · committed dose · interdose · booster dose · paleodose · heroic dose · radiation dose · dosology · absorbed dose · under-dose · funny as a dose of the clap · metered-dose inhaler · zero-dose · banana equivalent dose · like a dose of salts · hot dose · underdose · dose dumping · dose of one's own medicine · dose equivalent · equivalent dose · lethal dose
Descendants
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (76)
io dozo (measured portion of medicine) · da portion (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · be до́за (measured portion of medicine) · nb dose (measured portion of medicine) · fi lääkeannos (measured portion of medicine) · la dosis (measured portion of medicine) · he מָנָה (measured portion of medicine) · ru по́рция (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · ms dos (measured portion of medicine) · ja 用量 (measured portion of medicine) · el δόση (measured portion of medicine) · it dose (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · el δόση (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · nl dosis (measured portion of medicine) · nn dose (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · bg до́за (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · es dosis (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · cs dávka (measured portion of medicine) · pl dawka (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · km កំរិត (measured portion of medicine) · lt dozė (measured portion of medicine) · de Dosis (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · ru до́за (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · nn dose (measured portion of medicine) · ca dosi (measured portion of medicine) · bg до́за (measured portion of medicine) · ur خوراک (measured portion of medicine) · fy doaze (measured portion of medicine) · cmn (一)劑 /剂 (measured portion of medicine) · eo dozo (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · bo སྨན་ཐུན (measured portion of medicine) · pl dawka (measured portion of medicine) · grc δόσις (measured portion of medicine) · cmn 劑量 /剂量 (measured portion of medicine) · hu dózis (measured portion of medicine) · et annus (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · fi annos (measured portion of medicine) · uk до́за (measured portion of medicine) · ca dosi (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · gl dose (measured portion of medicine) · da dosis (measured portion of medicine) · tl dosis (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · ar جُرْعَة (measured portion of medicine) · pl porcja (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · acw جُرْعَة (measured portion of medicine) · et annus (measured portion of medicine) · de Dosis (measured portion of medicine) · vi liều (measured portion of medicine) · sh доза (measured portion of medicine) · fr dose (measured portion of medicine) · pl doza (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · pt dose (measured portion of medicine) · it dose (measured portion of medicine) · da dosis (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · sh doza (measured portion of medicine) · nb dose (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · th ขนาดยา (measured portion of medicine) · sl doza (measured portion of medicine) · ko 복용량 (measured portion of medicine) · sk dávka (measured portion of medicine) · as পালি (measured portion of medicine) · sk dávka (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · pt dose (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · ru до́за (measured portion of medicine) · sv dos (measured portion of medicine) · es dosis (measured portion of medicine) · tr doz (measured portion of medicine) · pl miarka (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · oc dòsi (measured portion of medicine) · eo dozo (measured portion of medicine) · cmn 剂量 (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · ne खुराक (measured portion of medicine) · fi annos (quantity of an agent administered at any one time) · hu adag (measured portion of medicine) · tl dosis (measured portion of medicine) · cmn (一)剂 (measured portion of medicine)