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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

doss.

To avoid work, shirk, etc.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/dɒs/Received-Pronunciation/dɑs/cot-caught-merger
  1. To avoid work, shirk, etc.

    Ireland · UK · intransitive
    I am going to doss tomorrow when the match is on.
  2. To sleep, especially in the open or in a makeshift bed, commonly in a derelict building because one is homeless.

    Australia · UK · intransitive · slang
    I normally have to doss in shop doorways or on park benches.
Where this word comes from

Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).

noun/dɒs/Received-Pronunciation/dɑs/cot-caught-merger
  1. The avoidance of work.

    Ireland · UK · countable · slang · uncountable
    I am going to have a doss tomorrow.
  2. An easy piece of work.

    Ireland · UK · countable · slang · uncountable
    Circumnavigating the world in a canoe is no doss.
  3. A place to sleep in; a bed.

    Ireland · UK · countable · dated · slang · uncountable
  4. Sleep.

    Ireland · UK · broadly · countable · dated · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).

adj/dɒs/Received-Pronunciation/dɑs/cot-caught-merger
  1. Useless or lazy. Generally combined with expletive noun, especially cunt.

    Scotland · not-comparable
    Get a hauld o yersel, ya doss cunt!
  2. Good, desirable.

    Scotland · not-comparable
    The place is pure doss, like.
Where this word comes from

Perhaps from Latin dorsum (“the back”), i.e. what one lies on when sleeping; perhaps from English dialect doss (“a hassock”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.