doll

[dol] /dɒl/
noun
1.
a small figure representing a baby or other human being, especially for use as a child's toy.
2.
Slang.
  1. a pretty but expressionless or unintelligent woman.
  2. a girl or woman, especially one who is considered attractive.
  3. a boy or man who is considered attractive.
  4. (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
3.
Informal. a generous or helpful person:
You're a doll for lending me your car.
Verb phrases
4.
doll up, Informal. to dress in an elegant or ostentatiously stylish manner:
She got all dolled up for a trip to the opera.
Origin
1550-60; generic use of Doll
Related forms
dollish, doll-like, adjective
dollishly, adverb
dollishness, noun

Doll

[dol] /dɒl/
noun
1.
a female given name, form of Dorothy.
Examples from the web for doll
  • If you happen to be a doll, life in plastic is fantastic.
  • Her little sister was dressing her doll upon my lap.
  • At one end her family laid out her cherished possessions: a doll's chair, a collection of shells, plastic sandals.
  • The dust clouds one blue eye as the severed doll's head stares up in the garage.
  • Think small as you gaze at the collection of doll houses, enduring tributes to miniature arts.
  • The bride is decorated with jewellery gifts from her family and a doll symbolizing fertility and conception.
  • She was limp, a rag doll, the left side of her face mostly torn off.
  • If her ears are pierced, she can get her doll's ears pierced, too.
  • Echo is quite literally a doll: beautiful, malleable, and detached.
  • The famous doll also has been much more, ranging from an astronaut to an athlete.
British Dictionary definitions for doll

doll

/dɒl/
noun
1.
a small model or dummy of a human being, used as a toy
2.
(slang) a pretty girl or woman of little intelligence: sometimes used as a term of address
Derived Forms
dollish, adjective
dollishly, adverb
dollishness, noun
Word Origin
C16: probably from Doll, pet name for Dorothy
Word Origin and History for doll
n.

1550s, endearing name for a female pet or a mistress; originally a familiar form of fem. proper name Dorothy (q.v.). The -l- for -r- substitution in nicknames is common in English: cf. Hal for Harold, Moll for Mary, Sally for Sarah, etc. Attested from 1640s as colloquial for "slattern;" sense of "child's toy baby" is c.1700. Transferred back to living beings 1778 in sense of "pretty, silly woman."

v.

1867, "to pet, indulge," from doll (n.). Usually with up. Meaning "to dress up" is from 1906, American English. Related: Dolled; dolling.

Slang definitions & phrases for doll

doll

noun
  1. (also dolly) A conventionally pretty and shapely young woman, esp a curly, blue-eyed blonde, whose function is to elevate the status of a male and to inspire general lust; babe, baby doll, bimbo: If a blonde girl doesn't talk we call her a doll/ the subservient dolly without a thought in her head (1860+)
  2. Any woman, esp an attractive one; babe, chick • Considered offensive by many women (1778+)
  3. A notably decent, pleasant, generous person; living doll: Isn't he a doll? (1950s+)
  4. An attractive boy or young man (1940s+)
  5. (also dolly) An amphetamine or barbiturate drug in pill or capsule form (1960s+ Narcotics)
Related Terms

china doll, living doll


Doll

Related Terms

barbie doll