dope

Pluraldopes (some meanings)

Formsdoper, dopest

Formsdopes, doping, doped

1. 1
   nounslanguncountable

   An illegal drug taken for pleasure, especially cannabis or, in the US, heroin.

   Customs officers found dope hidden in the truck's spare tire.

   Back then, half the band was on dope of one kind or another.

   UsageUsually no article: some dope, on dope; a dope is a stupid person.

   Similardrugs, narcotics, weed, pot

   Note

   The drug meaning keeps the idea of thickness: it ultimately refers to viscous opium juice, the same notion of a heavy liquid behind the paste sense. As slang it is a catch-all. Roger Waters's lyric, written in 1968 and first released in 1999, pairs it with inexpensive drink in a hazy scene and never says which drug.

2. 2
   cooladjectiveslang

   Amazing or excellent; very cool.

   The bassline on that track is dope.

   They turned an old warehouse into a dope rooftop bar.

   UsageWorks after a verb (that's dope) or before a noun (a dope jacket); often so dope.

   Similarcool, awesome, amazing, great, excellent

   Oppositelame, wack, terrible, awful

   Note

   The approving sense grew up in Black American speech and spread with hip-hop. SPIN in 1990 praised the Jungle Brothers' "dope conceptual beauty," and Charity C. Elder in 2022 still places it as "dope in Black urban parlance." It is an adjective here, not the drug noun.

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To take drugs, or give drugs to a person or animal, especially banned substances meant to change performance in sport.

   Several cyclists later admitted they had doped throughout the tour.

   Some athletes dope despite knowing a single positive test can end a career.

   UsageOften as the noun doping: a doping scandal, a doping test.

   Note

   Sport has made this the verb's most public sense, and the -ing form does much of the work as a noun. A 2015 book on the psychology of doping, summing up a 2010 study of young cyclists by Vanessa Lentillon-Kaestner and Catherine Carstairs, writes of riders who "doped or used to dope." It speaks of a "culture of doping" handed down to younger riders, along with "doping methods." Unlike the slang drug senses, this one is the neutral, official term.

4. 4
   stupid personnounslangcountable

   A stupid person.

   Some dope left the gate open and the dog got out.

   He felt like a complete dope for locking his keys in the car.

   UsageOften a big dope or a complete dope; don't be a dope is mild, not harsh.

   Similarclown, dolt, chump, buffoon, bozo

   Note

   An insult with more exasperation than venom, it often travels with other comic name-calling. The Green Bag of 1902 calls a defendant "a dope and a fat-head." Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes (1990) has Calvin yell "you stripey dope" at his tiger. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Green Bag contains the description of a defendant as "a dope and a fat-head" in 1902. en.wiktionary.org
   • A 1990 Calvin and Hobbes strip by Bill Watterson has Calvin call his tiger "you stripey dope". gocomics.com
5. 5
   electronicsverbtransitive

   To add a small amount of an impurity, such as arsenic, to a pure semiconductor like silicon in order to change its electrical properties.

   Manufacturers dope silicon wafers with boron to create the layers inside a transistor.

   The lab doped the germanium sample with arsenic to increase its conductivity.

   UsageUsually dope a material with an element: silicon doped with boron.

   Note

   Electronics took the word for a precise act: adding a trace of another element to pure silicon. The added element is a dopant, the result is doped silicon, and the process is doping. Arsenic is one choice. Boron is another, and Cathleen Shamieh and Gordon McComb's Electronics For Dummies notes that each boron atom has one fewer valence electron than silicon. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Doping involves introducing small amounts of impurities into silicon to change its electrical properties. en.wikipedia.org
   • The impurity is called a dopant, the treated silicon is doped silicon, and the process is doping. iue.tuwien.ac.at
   • Arsenic and boron can both be used to dope silicon. appliedmaterials.com
   • Cathleen Shamieh and Gordon McComb wrote the cited edition of Electronics For Dummies. oreilly.com
   • The book first appeared in 2005. The cited second edition by Shamieh and McComb appeared in 2009; 2011 is a later electronic publication date. oreilly.com
   • The cited book says that a boron atom has one fewer valence electron than a silicon atom. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   inside informationnounslanguncountable

   Inside information, typically passed on by someone in the know; the sense first arose around horse racing and similar sports.

   A friend at city hall gave her the dope on the zoning vote before it was announced.

   What's the dope on the new manager? Is she tough or fair?

   UsageUsually the dope on something; people get or give someone the dope.

   Similarscoop

   Note

   Ernest Hemingway, writing home in 1917, "got all the Dope." Its closest synonym is scoop, and like scoop it implies knowledge not everyone has. It is slang, but mild enough for breezy journalism, as The Guardian shows in 2000. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Ernest Hemingway used the exact words “got all the Dope” in a 1917 letter home. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted wording is exactly “got all the Dope.” en.wiktionary.org
   • The Guardian used this sense of dope in 2000. theguardian.com
7. 7
   noununcountable

   A thick liquid or paste put on a surface to lubricate, seal, waterproof, or strengthen it, such as the varnish used on aircraft fabric.

   He brushed dope onto the pipe threads before tightening the fitting.

   The mechanic smeared a thin layer of gasket dope around the oil pan before bolting it on.

   UsageOften pipe dope or gasket dope; you apply some dope or a coat of dope.

   Similarsealant, lubricant, paste, compound

   Note

   Its workaday compound is pipe dope, the paste worked into threaded joints. Robert O. Parmley's Standard Handbook of Fastening and Joining (1977) insists it goes on the male thread, never the female. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Standard Handbook of Fastening and Joining is associated with Robert O. Parmley and was first published in 1977. openlibrary.org
   • The handbook instructs readers to apply pipe dope to male threads and never to female threads. en.wiktionary.org

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