† dossn.1
Obsolete.
= dorse n.1 1, dosser n.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > cover for furniture > for seat
banker?c1350
dosser1379
doss1475
dorsea1524
dossal1658
tidy1850
antimacassar1852
chair-back1858
sofa-back1878
1475 Will of John Beauchamp in L. Boatwright et al. Logge Reg. (2008) I. 427 A vestiment of rede velvett..an aulter cloth doce and redoce of the same for principall festes.
c1490 Promptorium Parvulorum 127/2 (MS. K.) Dosse, dossorium.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
dossn.2
/dɒs/, U.S. /dɑs/ slang.
1. A place for sleeping in, a bed; esp. a bed in a common lodging-house. Also with suffixed adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > bed in lodging house
doss1789
letty1846
kip1879
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xv. 165 Dorsed, the place where a person sleeps, or a bed.
1795 H. T. Potter New Dict. Cant 26 Dorse, the place where a person sleeps.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 77 She stalled a lushy swaddy to a doss t'other darky.
1847 G. W. M. Reynolds Myst. London III. xxv. 71/2 May she be faithful to thy doss.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 310/2 In course the man paid..for the dos (bed).
c1880 T. J. Barnardo Taken out of Gutter 2 The coveted ‘doss’, as the bed in a threepenny lodging-house is called.
1892 R. Carrick Romance Lake Wakatipu iv. 16 [The bed] was accounted a luxury..compared with the doss-down the digger in pursuit of his calling was accustomed to.
1943 J. B. Hislop Pure Gold & Rough Diamonds 117 I thought it a great labour-saving idea and a great place for a doss-out.
1956 E. Blyton Myst. Missing Man xvii. 130 Only an old fellow who wants a doss-down somewhere.
2. Sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > an instance of
dorm1512
dormitation1564
doss1858
kip1879
1858 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 118 (Farmer) Into this..retreat, the lads crept..to enjoy their doss, as, in their slang, they called sleep.
1887 Daily News 29 Sept. 7/2 [Bargeman] To tell you the truth, we were having a doss (sleeping) in the cabin.
Compounds
doss-house n. a common lodging-house.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > accommodation or lodging > public lodging-places > [noun] > common lodging house
common lodging house1748
kip1879
doss-house1888
Rowton house1897
fleabag1907
flop1910
flop-house1923
hotbed1939
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Oct. 4/1 Lord Compton's proposal for an inquiry by a Select Committee into the ‘doss-houses’ of London.
1891 Spectator 14 Mar. 385/2 Preferable..to the contamination of the doss-house.
doss-man n. the keeper of a ‘doss-house’.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [noun] > with temporary accommodation > keeper of lodging house > keeper of common lodging house
doss-man1825
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 380 The Duck lane doss man.
Draft additions January 2002
British colloquial. An activity or experience regarded as easy, fun, or requiring little effort; an enjoyably undemanding enterprise, esp. one providing opportunities for idling; a soft option. Frequently with a.
ΚΠ
1985 Guardian 28 Aug. 11/1 Boys and girls sometimes arrive at the one-time stately home, free of bolts and bars, thinking they've landed themselves ‘a doss’.
1990 M. Hodkinson Wedding Present 11 It was not a proper band. It was just a doss. We used to do daft songs like ‘Twist And Shout’.
1992 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 3 Aug. 4 Art and music are quite popular, but they're considered a bit of a doss. Things like languages and economics are more useful.
1996 Observer 7 July (Review section) 6/1 Imagine—what a doss! Being in the most successful, most exciting, most deified band in Britain.
2000 Courier Mag. (Aberystwyth Univ. Students' Union) 2 Dec. 14/1 Even though the first semester of drama seemed like a doss, from semester two onwards I would be on the course with the biggest workload in the entire university.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dossv.1
/dɒs/, U.S. /dɑs/ Obsolete exc. dialect.
1.
a. intransitive. To push with the horns, as a bull.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bull > [verb (intransitive)] > strike or toss with the horns as a bull
doss1583
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xx. 119 [These] doe dosse with their hornes like madde bulles against all good Gouernment and policie.
c1680 E. Hickeringill Hist. Whiggism in Wks. (1716) I. 91 You may know the Nature of the Beast..by her Dossing at Men on all trivial occasions.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Doss, to attack with the horns, as a bull, a ram, or a he-goat.
b. transitive. To toss (the horns).
ΚΠ
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. Civ They are called Bulles, because they dosse out theyr hornes against the truth.
c. To butt, toss, or gore (a person) with the horns. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bull > [verb (transitive)] > strike or toss with the horns as a bull
doss1596
1596 H. Clapham Briefe of Bible ii. 129 The Deuill..is introduced with his Hornes, even for dossing (ey destroying) this Man-childe Jesus.
2. Scottish. To throw down with force; to toss down.
ΚΠ
1737 W. Meston Old Mother Grim's Tales vi. 33 Resolv'd to make him count and reckon,..And doce down.
1788 J. Skinner Christmass Bawing in Caledonian Mag. Sept. 505 The pensy lads dosst down on stanes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dossv.2
slang.
intransitive. To sleep; esp. to sleep at a common lodging-house or ‘doss-house’ (see doss n.2 Compounds). Also with down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (intransitive)] > in a specific place
trucklea1625
trundlec1626
doss1785
sleep1827
to plank it1829
sleep1912
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)]
to go to (one's) resteOE
to take (one's) restc1175
to go to bedc1275
to lie downc1275
reposec1485
down-lie1505
bed1635
to turn in1695
retire1696
lay1768
to go to roost1829
to turn or peak the flukes1851
kip1889
doss1896
to hit the hay1912
to hit the deck1918
to go down1922
to bunk down1940
to hit the sack1943
to sack out1946
to sack down1956
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (at cited word) To dorse..to sleep.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xv. 165 I dorsed there last darkey.
1896 N.Z. Alpine Jrnl. 2 ix. 169 Hodgkins and I ‘dossed down’ by the side of it.
1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 4 I wos dossin' dahn at Shorty's.
1899 J. Bell In Shadow of Bush iii. 11 There is a spare bunk in the wharé for one..and the other can doss down somewhere.
1924 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 31/2 We made a pretence of dossing down.
1932 Daily Express 25 June 17/6 If he wants to be on his way at daybreak he dosses down with his face to the east.
Derivatives
ˈdossing n. also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > action, fact, or state of sleeping or falling asleep
sleeping1362
slumberingc1386
obdormition1634
slumberingness1648
dossing1838
1838 Comic Almanack Apr. (Farmer) The hulks is now my bowsing-crib, the hold my dossing~ken.
1888 Earl Compton Speech House Commons 5 Oct. A select committee to inquire into the ‘dossing’ or lodging-house system.
1895 Tablet 14 Sept. 426 Charges of theft, begging, ‘dossing out’, and other juvenile misdemeanours.
Draft additions January 2002
intransitive. British colloquial. To fool about, to mess around; to pass time idly or aimlessly; to be lazy. Usually with about, around.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > be idle or unoccupied [verb (intransitive)]
emptyeOE
to tell the clock1527
idle1668
to kick one's heels1703
twirl1777
gammer1788
to twiddle one's thumbs, or fingers1846
to make (also do) kef1852
goof1932
doss1937
to sit on one's hands1939
to bugger about ——1946
to spin one's wheels1960
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > be slothful or lazy [verb (intransitive)] > idle or loaf
luskc1330
lubber1530
to play the truant, -s1560
lazea1592
lazy1612
meecha1625
lounge1671
saunter1672
sloungea1682
slive1707
soss1711
lolpoop1722
muzz1758
shack1787
hulkc1793
creolize1802
maroon1808
shackle1809
sidle1828
slinge1834
sossle1837
loaf1838
mike1838
to sit around1844
hawm1847
wanton1847
sozzle1848
mooch1851
slosh1854
bum1857
flane1876
slummock1877
dead-beat1881
to lop about1881
scow1901
scowbank1901
stall1916
doss1937
plotz1941
lig1960
loon1969
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 236/1 Doss, to ‘hang the time out’, to loaf.
1978 P. Marsh et al. Rules of Disorder ii. 46 Anybody that works in a lesson..that you know you're going to doss about in,..you get called ‘ponce’ and everything.
1987 R.A.D./BMX Action Bike Sept. 16/2 Cruise down to Bike City on your board... Even carry it with you to the precinct over the road, where kids have dossed about since the place opened..and you're in big trouble.
1995 Sugar Apr. 15/1 So some days you fancy being a bit of a Waynetta Slob and dossing around in your mud-smeared tracky pants and holiest old t-shirt? Fine!
2000 Wells Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 27 Apr. In his words he then ‘dossed about a bit and saw something of the country’, spending time in Kendal, in the Lake District, where he worked for Burtons.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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