# doll

Pronunciation: say "DOL" US /dɑl/, UK /dɒl/, AUS /dɔl/

## Noun

1. A small figure made to look like a human being, used as a toy.
   - Simple: A toy that looks like a small person.
   - _My daughter tucked her doll into bed beside her and turned out the light._
   - _Grandma still keeps the china dolls she played with as a girl._
3. A young woman regarded as attractive. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A pretty young woman.
   - _In the old gangster film, the hero tips his hat and tells his pal that the new singer at the club is quite a doll._
   - _My grandfather loved to say that when he first saw my grandmother at the dance hall, she was the prettiest doll in town._
4. A term of endearment used much like darling or sweetheart. *(dialectal, Australia, Scotland, US)*
   - Simple: A loving name to call someone, like darling or sweetheart.
   - _“Sit down, doll, the coffee's almost ready,” the waitress said._
   - _“Don't wait up for me, doll,” he called on his way out the door._
5. A good-natured person who is willing to cooperate or help. *(US)*
   - Simple: A kind person who is happy to help.
   - _Be a doll and grab my keys off the kitchen counter._
   - _Thanks for driving me to the airport at five in the morning, you're a doll._
6. A woman who is transgender, or any person whose gender identity is transfeminine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A transgender woman, or another trans person whose identity leans female.
   - _She found a group of dolls online who helped her through the first months of her transition._
   - _Every doll in the support group brought a dish to her name-change party._

## Verb

2. To dress someone, or oneself, so as to look attractive or smart; to doll up.
   - Simple: To make someone or yourself look pretty or smart with nice clothes.
   - _We'll doll you up in Mom's old evening gown for the gala._
   - _They dolled themselves up for opening night at the theater._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A pill containing a barbiturate or an amphetamine.
- (noun) A dollar, as a sum of money.
- (noun) The smallest pig in a litter, or the one kept as a pet.
- (noun) A temporary barrier set up on a course during horse racing.
- (verb) To place a barrier in front of a section of a racecourse so that it is left out of a horse race.
- (noun) In railroad signaling, a short secondary post that carries a signal and rises from a bracket on the main post or from a signal gantry.
- (verb) To warm something moderately or make it lukewarm; to mull.

## Origin

The word comes from Doll, an affectionate short form of the given name Dorothy. American writer Jacqueline Susann coined the drug sense in her 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls. The book and its 1967 film adaptation helped make that use widely known.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/doll (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).