doze
/doʊz/verb, noun, determiner
doze is spelled D-O-Z-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dose vs doze” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, doze means “To sleep lightly or briefly; to nap, snooze” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in doze?
| Letters | 4: D-O-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,767th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is doze?
Doze appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th 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 doze?
- /doʊz/
Doze 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-us-doze.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with doze
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: dose.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of doze
- dozes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- dozing participle, present
- dozed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does doze mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To sleep lightly or briefly; to nap, snooze.
I didn’t sleep very well, but I think I may have dozed a bit.
- 2
To make dull; to stupefy.
October 29, 1693, Robert South, a sermon preached at Christ-church in Oxford before the university They left for a long time (as it were) dozed and benumbed.
- 3
slangTo bulldoze.
noun
- 1
A light, short sleep or nap.
I felt much better after a short doze.
determiner
- 1
Pronunciation spelling of those.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Doze in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | somnoler |
| German | dösen |
| Portuguese | cochilar, tirar soneca (uma) , soneca, cochilo |
| Spanish | dormitar, cabecear |
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 doze come from?
From Middle English *dosen, from Old Norse dúsa (“to doze, rest, remain quiet”), from Proto-Germanic *dusāną (“to be dizzy”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰews- (“to fly, whirl”), from *dʰew- (“to fly, shake, reek, steam, smolder”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).