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PlainSpell

doss

UK /dɒs/verb, noun, adjective

doss is spelled D-O-S-S: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, doss means “To avoid work, shirk, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in doss?

Letters4: D-O-S-S
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 51,129th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is doss?

Doss appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce doss?

  • UK /dɒs/
  • /dɑs/

Doss has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-doss.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with doss?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as doss from its last stressed vowel (/ɒs/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of doss

  • dosses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • dossing participle, present
  • dossed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does doss mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    IrelandUKTo avoid work, shirk, etc.

    I am going to doss tomorrow when the match is on.

  2. 2

    AustraliaUKslangTo sleep, especially in the open or in a makeshift bed, commonly in a derelict building because one is homeless.

    I normally have to doss in shop doorways or on park benches.

noun

  1. 1

    IrelandUKslangThe avoidance of work.

    I am going to have a doss tomorrow.

  2. 2

    IrelandUKslangAn easy piece of work.

    Circumnavigating the world in a canoe is no doss.

  3. 3

    IrelandUKdatedslangA place to sleep in; a bed.

  4. 4

    IrelandUKdatedslangSleep.

adjective

  1. 1

    ScotlandUseless or lazy. Generally combined with expletive noun, especially cunt.

    Get a hauld o yersel, ya doss cunt!

  2. 2

    ScotlandGood, desirable.

    The place is pure doss, like.

noun

as DOSS
  1. 1

    Abbreviation of dioctyl sulfosuccinate/dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.

noun

as DoSs
  1. 1

    plural of DoS (a form of DoS)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Where does doss come from?

Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after doss