dozen

dozen
doz|en
W3S2 [ˈdʌzən] number plural dozen or dozens
written abbreviation doz.
[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: dozeine, from doze 'twelve']
1.) twelve
a dozen eggs
two/three/four etc dozen
(=24, 36, 48 etc)
The number of deaths has risen to more than two dozen.
dozens of people/companies/cars etc
(=but not hundreds or thousands)
According to a government spokesman, dozens of people were killed.
Chris, Helen, and half a dozen others went on holiday together.
A dozen or so (=about 12) cars were parked near the entrance.
2.) informal a lot of
a dozen
I've heard this story a dozen times before.
dozens of sth
She's had dozens of boyfriends.
We collected dozens and dozens of shells on the beach.
→↑baker's dozen,a dime a dozen atdime, nineteen to the dozen atnineteen, six of one and half a dozen of another atsix

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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  • Dozen — Doz en (d[u^]z n), n.; pl. {Dozen} (before another noun), {Dozens} (d[u^]z nz). [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See {Two}, {Ten}, and cf. {Duodecimal}.] 1. A collection of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dozen — Doz en (d[u^]z n), n.; pl. {Dozen} (before another noun), {Dozens} (d[u^]z nz). [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See {Two}, {Ten}, and cf. {Duodecimal}.] 1. A collection of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dozen — doz‧en [ˈdʌzn] written abbreviation doz. noun dozens PLURALFORM or dozen [countable] a group of twelve things: • More than a dozen managers have come …   Financial and business terms

  • dozen — is a collective noun used in two ways, (1) as dozen, preceded by a numeral, meaning a unit of twelve (two dozen eggs), and (2) as dozens, in informal use, meaning ‘very many’ (We made dozens of mistakes) …   Modern English usage

  • dozen — ► NOUN (pl. same) ▪ a group or set of twelve. ● talk nineteen to the dozen Cf. ↑talk nineteen to the dozen DERIVATIVES dozenth adjective. ORIGIN Old French dozeine, from Latin duodecim twelve …   English terms dictionary

  • dozen — [duz′ən] n. pl. dozens or, esp. after a number, dozen [ME dozeine < OFr dozaine < douze, twelve < L duodecim, twelve < duo, TWO + decem, TEN] 1. a set of twelve: see also BAKER S DOZEN 2. [often pl.] a large number ☆ the do …   English World dictionary

  • dozen — c.1300, from O.Fr. dozaine a dozen, from doze (12c.) twelve, from L. duodecim twelve, from duo two + decem ten (see TEN (Cf. ten)). The O.Fr. fem. suffix aine is characteristically added to cardinals to form collectives in a precise sense (… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Dozen — (engl., spr. dösn), das Dutzend, als Zählgröße bei Stückgütern = 12, das long D. = 13 …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Dozen — Doz redirects here. For the Afro Asiatic language, see DOZ. Dozens redirects here. For other uses, see Dozens (disambiguation). Group of twelve redirects here. For other uses, see Group of Twelve (disambiguation). A dozen (common abbreviated doz… …   Wikipedia

  • dozen — 01. He bought about a [dozen] CDs yesterday during the one day sale. 02. Can you pick up a [dozen] eggs at the grocery store on the way home? 03. I picked up half a [dozen] bagels and some cream cheese to take on the picnic. 04. There were about… …   Grammatical examples in English

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