douse

  • 1Douse — Douse, v. t. [AS. dw[ae]scan. (Skeat.)] To put out; to extinguish; as, douse the lights. [Slang] To douse the glim. Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2Douse — (dous), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Doused} (doust); p. pr. & vb. n. {Dousing}.] [Cf. {Dowse}, and OD. donsen to strike with the fist on the back, Sw. dunsa to fall down violently and noisily; perh. akin to E. din.] 1. To plunge suddenly into water; to… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3douse — douse, dowse Three verbs are involved here: (1) douse, pronounced like the noun house, meaning ‘to doff (a hat etc.)’, (2) douse, pronounced like the first one and possibly related to it, meaning ‘to plunge into water’, and (3) dowse, pronounced… …

    Modern English usage

  • 4Douse — Douse, v. i. To fall suddenly into water. Hudibras. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 5douse — dowse [daus] v [T] [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: Probably from douse to hit (16 18 centuries)] 1.) to stop a fire from burning by pouring water on it 2.) [+ with/in] to cover something in water or other liquid …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 6douse — (also dowse) ► VERB 1) drench with liquid. 2) extinguish (a fire or light). ORIGIN perhaps imitative, influenced by SOUSE(Cf. ↑souse), or perhaps from dialect douse strike, beat …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7Douse — may refer to: Dousing for making things wet Dowsing for water divining This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point di …

    Wikipedia

  • 8douse — index immerse (plunge into) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 9douse — [ daus ] verb transitive 1. ) to cover something or someone with a liquid, especially water or fuel 2. ) to make a fire stop burning by pouring water over it …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 10douse — (v.) 1550s, to strike, punch, which is perhaps from M.Du. dossen beat forcefully or a similar Low Ger. word. Meaning to strike a sail in haste is recorded from 1620s; that of to extinguish (a light) is from 1785; perhaps influenced by dout… …

    Etymology dictionary