Library / English Dictionary

DOZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light fitful sleep

Synonyms:

doze; drowse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("doze" is a kind of...):

sleeping (the suspension of consciousness and decrease in metabolic rate)

Derivation:

doze (sleep lightly or for a short period of time)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sleep lightly or for a short period of time

Synonyms:

doze; drowse; snooze

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "doze" is one way to...):

catch a wink; catnap; nap (take a siesta)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Also:

doze off (change from a waking to a sleeping state)

Derivation:

doze (a light fitful sleep)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He came out of a doze that was half nightmare, to see the red-hued she- wolf before him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Soon after, Mrs. Reed grew more composed, and sank into a dozing state.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I was dozing myself in the evening when someone plucked my sleeve, and I found Challenger kneeling beside me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Can't keep still all day, and not being a pussycat, I don't like to doze by the fire.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Whether she thought of him so much, while she drank her warm wine and water, and prepared herself for bed, as to dream of him when there, cannot be ascertained; but I hope it was no more than in a slight slumber, or a morning doze at most; for if it be true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman's love is declared,* it must be very improper that a young lady should dream of a gentleman before the gentleman is first known to have dreamt of her.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Lady Bertram, sunk back in one corner of the sofa, the picture of health, wealth, ease, and tranquillity, was just falling into a gentle doze, while Fanny was getting through the few difficulties of her work for her.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He would be lying in camp, dozing lazily in the heat of the day, when suddenly his head would lift and his ears cock up, intent and listening, and he would spring to his feet and dash away, and on and on, for hours, through the forest aisles and across the open spaces where the niggerheads bunched.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I was wedged in between Redruth and a stout old gentleman, and in spite of the swift motion and the cold night air, I must have dozed a great deal from the very first, and then slept like a log up hill and down dale through stage after stage, for when I was awakened at last it was by a punch in the ribs, and I opened my eyes to find that we were standing still before a large building in a city street and that the day had already broken a long time.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And, while the pharmaceutical industry is raking in billions by catering to insomniacs, Walker warns that the pills designed to help us doze off are a poor substitute for the natural sleep cycles that the brain needs in order to function well.

(Deep Sleep May Act as Fountain of Youth in Old Age, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Sometimes, when it was her turn and she sat by the prisoner, the loaded shot-gun in her lap, her eyes would close and she would doze.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)