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doss

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doss¹

  • /dɒs/ UK
  • /dɑs/ cot caught merger

Rhymes with -ɒs, -ɔːs

Where it comes from

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

verb dosses · dossing · dossed

  1. Ireland, UK, intransitive To avoid work, shirk, etc. I am going to doss tomorrow when the match is on.
  2. Australia, UK, intransitive, slang To 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 dosses

  1. Ireland, UK, countable, slang, uncountable The avoidance of work. I am going to have a doss tomorrow.
  2. Ireland, UK, countable, slang, uncountable An easy piece of work. Circumnavigating the world in a canoe is no doss.
  3. Ireland, UK, countable, dated, slang, uncountable A place to sleep in; a bed.
  4. Ireland, UK, broadly, countable, dated, slang Sleep.

adjective

  1. Scotland, not comparable Useless or lazy. Generally combined with expletive noun, especially cunt. Get a hauld o yersel, ya doss cunt!
  2. Scotland, not comparable Good, desirable. The place is pure doss, like.

Doss²

  • /bɔs/

proper noun Dosses

  1. A surname.

DOSS³

noun

  1. abbreviation, uncountable Abbreviation of dioctyl sulfosuccinate/dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate

DoSs⁴

noun

  1. plural plural of DoS

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"doss." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/doss. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

doss. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/doss

Chicago

"doss." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/doss.

BibTeX
@misc{doss_2026,
  title = {doss},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/doss},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}