Doughty (dou"tȳ) adjective [ Compar. Doughtier (-tĭ*ẽr); superl. Doughtiest .] [ Middle English duhti , dohti , douhti , brave, valiant, fit, useful, AS, dyhtig ; akin to German tüchtig , Danish dygtig , Swedish dygdig virtuous, and from Anglo-Saxon dugan to avail, be of use, be strong, akin to Dutch deugen , Old High German tugan , German taugen , Icelandic & Swedish duga , Danish due , Goth. dugan , but of uncertain origin; confer Sanskrit duh to milk, give milk, draw out, or Greek ty`chh fortune. √68.] Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable; as, a doughty hero.

Sir Thopas wex [ grew] a doughty swain.

Chaucer.

Doughty families, hugging old musty quarrels to their hearts, buffet each other from generation to generation.

Motley.

» Now seldom used, except in irony or burlesque.

Doughy (dō"ȳ) adjective Like dough; soft and heavy; pasty; crude; flabby and pale; as, a doughy complexion.

Doulocracy noun [ Greek doy^los slave + kratei^n to rule.] A government by slaves. [ Written also dulocracy .] Hare.

Doum palm (dōm" päm`). See Doom palm .

Doupe noun (Zoology) The carrion crow. [ Written also dob .] [ Prov. Eng.]

Dour adjective [ Confer French dur , Latin durus .] Hard; inflexible; obstinate; sour in aspect; hardy; bold. [ Scot.]

A dour wife, a sour old carlin.

C. Reade.

Doura noun A kind of millet. See Durra .

Douroucouli noun See Durukuli .

Douse transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Doused ; present participle & verbal noun Dousing .] [ Confer Dowse , and OD. donsen to strike with the fist on the back, Swedish dunsa to fall down violently and noisily; perhaps akin to English din .]
1. To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse; to dowse. Bp. Stillingfleet.

2. (Nautical) To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly; as, douse the topsail.

Douse intransitive verb To fall suddenly into water. Hudibras.

Douse transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon dwæscan . (Skeat.)] To put out; to extinguish. [ Slang] " To douse the glim." Sir W. Scott.

Dousing-chock noun (Shipbuilding) One of several pieces fayed across the apron and lapped in the knightheads, or inside planking above the upper deck. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Dout transitive verb [ Do + out . Confer Doff .] To put out. [ Obsolete] "It douts the light." Sylvester.

Douter noun An extinguisher for candles. [ Obsolete]

Dove noun [ Middle English dove , duve , douve , Anglo-Saxon d...fe ; akin to Old Saxon d...ba , Dutch duif , Old High German t...ba , German taube , Icelandic d...fa , Swedish dufva , Danish due , Goth. d...b... ; perhaps from the root of English dive .]
1. (Zoology) A pigeon of the genus Columba and various related genera. The species are numerous.

» The domestic dove, including the varieties called fantails , tumblers , carrier pigeons , etc., was derived from the rock pigeon ( Columba livia ) of Europe and Asia; the turtledove of Europe, celebrated for its sweet, plaintive note, is C. turtur or Turtur vulgaris ; the ringdove , the largest of European species, is C. palumbus ; the Carolina dove , or Mourning dove , is Zenaidura macroura ; the sea dove is the little auk ( Mergulus alle or Alle alle ). See Turtledove , Ground dove , and Rock pigeon . The dove is a symbol of innocence, gentleness, and affection; also, in art and in the Scriptures, the typical symbol of the Holy Ghost.

2. A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle.

O my dove , . . . let me hear thy voice.

Cant. ii. 14.

Dove tick (Zoology) , a mite ( Argas reflexus ) which infests doves and other birds. -- Soiled dove , a prostitute. [ Slang]

Dove plant (Botany) A Central American orchid ( Peristeria elata ), having a flower stem five or six feet high, with numerous globose white fragrant flowers. The column in the center of the flower resembles a dove; -- called also Holy Spirit plant .

Dove-eyed adjective Having eyes like a dove; meekeyed; as, dove-eyed Peace.

Dove's-foot noun (Botany) (a) A small annual species of Geranium, native in England; -- so called from the shape of the leaf. (b) The columbine. [ Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Dovecot, Dovecote noun A small house or box, raised to a considerable height above the ground, and having compartments, in which domestic pigeons breed; a dove house.

Like an eagle in a dovecote , I
Fluttered your Volscians in Corioli.

Shak.

Dovekie noun (Zoology) A guillemot ( Uria grylle ), of the arctic regions. Also applied to the little auk or sea dove. See under Dove .

Dovelet noun A young or small dove. Booth.

Dovelike adjective Mild as a dove; gentle; pure and lovable. Longfellow.

Dover's Powder [ From Dr. Dover , an English physician.] (Medicine) A powder of ipecac and opium, compounded, in the United States, with sugar of milk, but in England (as formerly in the United States) with sulphate of potash, and in France (as in Dr. Dover's original prescription) with nitrate and sulphate of potash and licorice. It is an anodyne diaphoretic.

Doveship noun The possession of dovelike qualities, harmlessness and innocence. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hall.

Dovetail noun (Carp.) A flaring tenon, or tongue (shaped like a bird's tail spread), and a mortise, or socket, into which it fits tightly, making an interlocking joint between two pieces which resists pulling a part in all directions except one.

Dovetail molding (Architecture) , a molding of any convex section arranged in a sort of zigzag, like a series of dovetails. -- Dovetail saw (Carp.) , a saw used in dovetailing.

Dovetail transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Dovetailed ; present participle & verbal noun Dovetailing .]
1. (Carp.) (a) To cut to a dovetail. (b) To join by means of dovetails.

2. To fit in or connect strongly, skillfully, or nicely; to fit ingeniously or complexly.

He put together a piece of joinery so crossly indented and whimsically dovetailed . . . that it was indeed a very curious show.

Burke.

Dovish adjective Like a dove; harmless; innocent. "Joined with dovish simplicity." Latimer.

Dow noun A kind of vessel. See Dhow .

Dow transitive verb [ French douer . See Dower .] To furnish with a dower; to endow. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Dowable adjective [ From Dow , transitive verb ] Capable of being endowed; entitled to dower. Blackstone.

Dowager noun [ Old French douagiere , from douage dower. See Dower .]
1. (Eng. Law) A widow endowed, or having a jointure; a widow who either enjoys a dower from her deceased husband, or has property of her own brought by her to her husband on marriage, and settled on her after his decease. Blount. Burrill.

2. A title given in England to a widow, to distinguish her from the wife of her husband's heir bearing the same name; -- chiefly applied to widows of personages of rank.

With prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans.

Tennyson.

Queen dowager , the widow of a king.

Dowagerism noun The rank or condition of a dowager; formality, as that of a dowager. Also used figuratively.

Mansions that have passed away into dowagerism .

Thackeray.

Dowcet noun [ See Doucet .] One of the testicles of a hart or stag. [ Spelt also doucet .] B. Jonson.

Dowdy adjective [ Compar. Dowdier ; superl. Dowdiest .] [ Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw , da sluggard, drab, Prov. English dowd flat, dead.] Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking. -- Dow"di*ly adverb -- Dow"di*ness , noun

Dowdy noun ; plural Dowdies An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. Shak. Dryden.

Dowdyish adjective Like a dowdy.

Dowel noun [ Confer German döbel peg, French douelle state of a cask, surface of an arch, douille socket, little pipe, cartridge.] (Mech.)
1. A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.

2. A piece of wood driven into a wall, so that other pieces may be nailed to it.

Dowel joint , a joint secured by a dowel or dowels. -- Dowel pin , a dowel. See Dowel , noun , 1.

Dowel transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Doweled or Dowelled ; present participle & verbal noun Doweling or Dowelling .] To fasten together by dowels; to furnish with dowels; as, a cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.

Dower noun [ French douaire , Late Latin dotarium , from Latin dotare to endow, portion, from dos dower; akin to Greek ... gift, and to Latin dare to give. See 1st Date , and confer Dot dowry, Dotation .]
1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.

How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower !

Sir J. Davies.

Man in his primeval dower arrayed.

Wordsworth.

2. The property with which a woman is endowed ; especially: (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage; dowry. [ Obsolete]

His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown.

Dryden.

(b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman is entitled after the death of her husband. Blackstone.

» Dower , in modern use, is and should be distinguished from dowry . The former is a provision for a widow on her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on her marriage. Abbott.

Assignment of dower . See under Assignment .

Dowered p. adjective Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion. Shak.

Dowerless adjective Destitute of dower; having no marriage portion. Shak.

Dowery noun See Dower .

Dowitcher noun (Zoology) The red-breasted or gray snipe ( Macrorhamphus griseus ); - - called also brownback , and grayback .

Dowl (doul) noun Same as Dowle .

Dowlas noun [ Prob. from Doullens , a town of Picardy, in France, formerly celebrated for this manufacture.] A coarse linen cloth made in the north of England and in Scotland, now nearly replaced by calico. Shak.

Dowle (doul) noun [ Confer Old French douille soft. Confer Ductile .] Feathery or wool-like down; filament of a feather. Shak.

No feather, or dowle of a feather.

De Quincey.