dozen

noun

doz·​en ˈdə-zᵊn 

plural dozens or dozen

1

: a group of 12

2

: an indefinitely large number

dozens of times

3

the dozens plural in form but singular in construction : a ritualized African American word game that consists of exchanging insults usually about the members of an opponent's family

dozen adjective

dozenth

ˈdə-zᵊn(t)th 

adjective

Synonyms

• abundance
• barrel
• basketful
• boatload
• bucket
• bunch
• bundle
• bushel
• carload
• chunk
• deal
• fistful
• gobs
• good deal
• heap
• hundred
• lashings [chiefly British]
• lashins
• loads
• lot
• mass
• mess
• mountain
• much
• multiplicity
• myriad
• oodles
• pack
• passel
• peck
• pile
• plateful
• plenitude
• plentitude
• plenty
• pot
• potful
• profusion
• quantity
• raft
• reams
• scads
• sheaf
• shipload
• sight
• slew
• spate
• stack
• store
• ton
• truckload
• volume
• wad
• wealth
• yard

Examples of dozen in a Sentence

dozens of new songs were auditioned and rejected

Recent Examples on the Web

More than a dozen Santa Clara alumni and other community leaders served as Opus Prize jurors, and 16 SCU students, faculty and staff members were ambassadors who joined on site visits to the prize finalists. —Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 16 Nov. 2024

Shakira, Bad Bunny, Anitta and Karol G are among the more than two dozen artists nominated for the biggest awards of the night — record of the year, album of the year and song of the year. —Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2024

Since January 2023, Arizonans have submitted dozens of complaints to the department that were related to provider networks. —Max Blau, ProPublica, 14 Nov. 2024

Eventually our list reaches more than a dozen more victims, nearly all with similar experiences, most of them bursting with a desire to talk. —Suzanne Seggerman, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dozeine, from Anglo-French duzeine, dozeyne, from duze twelve, from Latin duodecim, from duo two + decem ten — more at two, ten

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dozen

• a dime a dozen
• baker's dozen
• daily dozen
• half a dozen
• half dozen
• it's six of one and half a dozen of the other
• it's six of one, half (a) dozen of the other
• several dozen
• talk nineteen to the dozen

Kids Definition

dozen

noun

doz·​en ˈdəz-ᵊn 

plural dozens or dozen

: a group of twelve

dozen adjective

dozenth

-ᵊn(t)th 

adjective

Etymology

Middle English dozeine "dozen," from early French dozeyne (same meaning), derived from Latin duodecim "twelve," from duo "two" and decem "ten" — related to decimal, dime, dual