Dose Meaning
/ˈdəʊ̯s/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
nounThe quantity of an agent (not always active), substance, or radiation administered or experienced at any one time.
Sentence Examples
It's time you had a dose of your medicine.
First, swallow one dose of barium.
She had been given a lethal dose of poison.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He took a large ____ of the cough syrup before going to bed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It's time you had a ____ of your medicine.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French dose, from Late Latin dosis, from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “a portion prescribed”, literally “a giving”), used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Doublet of doos.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death. Nowadays workers are exposed to far lower doses and manganism is rare."
— 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
"“I had then, as you remember, just returned to London after a lot of Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas - a regular dose of the East - six years or so, and I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilise you.”"
— 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 197:
"The prospect of becoming a father is a dose of reality that threatens to bring his dream world crashing down."
— 2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 78:
"People who don't get their daily dose of light at the right time of day can end up with worse health."
— 2025 December 9, Veronique Greenwood, “Your Bedroom Probably Isn't Dark Enough”, in TIME:
"Don't give a dose to the one you love most. / Give her some marmalade... give her some toast."
— 1972, Shel Silverstein, “Don't Give A Dose to the One You Love Most”:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He took a large ____ of the cough syrup before going to bed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It's time you had a ____ of your medicine.