douse
pronunciation
How to pronounce douse in British English:
UK [daʊs]
How to pronounce douse in American English:
US [daʊs]
-
- Verb:
- put out, as of a candle or a light
- wet thoroughly
- dip into a liquid
- immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
- lower quickly
- slacken
- cover with liquid; pour liquid onto
Word Origin
- douse (v.)
- 1550s, "to strike, punch," which is perhaps from Middle Dutch dossen "beat forcefully" or a similar Low German 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 (1520s), an obsolete contraction of do out (compare doff, don). OED regards the meaning "to plunge into water, to throw water over" (c. 1600) as a separate word, of unknown origin, though admitting there may be a connection of some sort. Related: Doused; dousing.
Example
- 1. Douse twenty bush fires and go to next level .
- 2. Thoroughly douse cigarettes in ashtrays and fires in fireplaces .
- 3. Or will the shadows of her past douse the lamps of hope ?
- 4. One option would be a large , one-off revaluation of the renminbi , which potentially could douse speculation over further rises and hence depress speculative inflows .
- 5. Estimates of the shortfall have fluctuated since the broker-dealer filed for bankruptcy on october 31 after failing to douse fears over its exposure to european sovereign debt .