douse
/daʊs/verb, noun
douse is spelled D-O-U-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, douse means “To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in douse?
| Letters | 5: D-O-U-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is douse?
Douse appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd 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 douse?
- /daʊs/
Douse 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-douse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of douse
- douses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- dousing participle, present
- doused participle, past
- dowse
- douze
- douce
- dause
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does douse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse.
- 2
To fall suddenly into water.
- 3
To put out; to extinguish.
- 4
To strike, beat, or thrash.
- 5
To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly
Douse the topsail!
noun
- 1
A sudden plunging into water.
- 2
A blow or strike, especially to the face.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Douse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | immerger |
| German | plötzlich untertauchen, plötzlich wegtauchen, plötzlich abtauchen , plumpsen, platschen , löschen |
| Portuguese | imergir |
| Spanish | apagar, extinguir, aplacar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does douse come from?
Probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish dunsa (“to plumb down, fall clumsily”), Danish dunse (“to thump”). Compare Old English dwǣsċan (“to extinguish”) and douse below.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).