What does "dose" mean?
A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
Dose
/doʊs/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
- Grammar: dose is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: dosage, absorbed dose, acid, acquired syphilis.
- Useful contrasts: nontoxic dose, overdose, safe dose.
- Usage evidence: It's time you had a dose of your medicine.
How to use "dose"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dose" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dose" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dose" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dose" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dose" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "dosage" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "dose", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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."
- 2 Archaic form of doze. alt-of, archaic
"Just at the dawning of the day, I fell into a dose more like sleep than any I had during the whole night, in which I dreamed that I saw a river as clear as crystal […]"
- 3 street name for lysergic acid diethylamide wordnet
- 4 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."
- 5 a measured portion of medicine taken at any one time wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 Anything disagreeable that must be taken. dated, figuratively
- 7 the quantity of an active agent (substance or radiation) taken in or absorbed at any one time wordnet
- 8 A good measure or lengthy experience of something. figuratively
"“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.”"
- 9 a communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact wordnet
- 10 A venereal infection. dated
"Don't give a dose to the one you love most. / Give her some marmalade... give her some toast."
- 11 A cold; a common, viral illness of the nasal passage, sometimes with fever. Ireland, colloquial
"There's a dose going round."
Verb
- 1 To administer a dose (of medicine) to. transitive
""She thought herself broad awake, and I have dosed her with an opiate.""
- 2 Archaic form of doze. alt-of, archaic
"It was to me a marvellous experience; to be here, propped up with pillows in a dimly-lighted room, the night-nurse idly dosing by the fire; the sound of the everlasting wind in my ears, howling outside […]"
- 3 administer a drug to wordnet
- 4 To prescribe a dose.
- 5 treat with an agent; add (an agent) to wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To surreptitiously administer a dose of an incapacitating drug (to an unwilling subject); to roofie. transitive
"The defense never conceded that their clients had administered chloral [hydrate], but Death and Campbell said initially—during their contested station house confessions—that McAlister had dosed [Jennie Bosschieter's] drink."
- 7 To transmit a venereal disease to. dated, transitive
"Sometime back, one of your scarlet sisters dosed me proper."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It's time you had a dose of your medicine."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dose"?
Common synonyms include: dosage, absorbed dose, acid, acquired syphilis, administer, administer.
How do you use "dose" in a sentence?
It's time you had a dose of your medicine.
How do you pronounce "dose"?
Pronounced /doʊs/.
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”). Doublet of doos.