Doe Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms doe 1 American [doh] / doʊ /

noun

plural

does,

plural

doe

1. the female of the deer, antelope, goat, rabbit, and certain other animals.

DOE 2 American

1. Department of Energy.

2. Also d.o.e. depends on experience; depending on experience: used in stating a salary range in help-wanted ads.

DOE 1 British

abbreviation

1. (in Canada and, formerly, in Britain) Department of the Environment

2. (in the US) Department of Energy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Doe 2 British / dəʊ /

noun

1. law (formerly) the plaintiff in a fictitious action, Doe versus Roe, to test a point of law See also Roe

2. an unknown or unidentified male or female person

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 doe 3 British / dəʊ /

noun

1. the female of the deer, hare, rabbit, and certain other animals

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of doe

First recorded before 1000; Middle English do, Old English dā; cognate with Danish daa; akin to Old English dēon “to suck”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Then I batted my long eyelashes at her like a graceful doe.

From Literature

On a sunny morning in September, a dead doe lay on the side of a small road just off 395, as cars whizzed by on the artery that connects communities along the Eastern Sierra.

From Los Angeles Times

The “Christmas magic” that allows the doe to fly does not work on other creatures.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mary Slater, 84, said, while her dog doe not mind fireworks going off, her son's dog was "absolutely terrified".

From BBC

"Walking through the woods, I spotted this roe doe grazing the foliage," says Walker-Nix.

From BBC

Related Words

• bunny
• coney
• cony
• hare
• lagomorph
• lapin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.