dope
UK [dəʊp] · US [doʊp] noun, verb, adjective
Forms dopes doping doped doper dopest D.O.P.E. D. O. P. E.
- noun (uncountable) Any viscous liquid or paste, such as a lubricant, used in preparing a surface.
- noun (uncountable) An absorbent material used to hold a liquid.
- noun (uncountable, aeronautics) Any varnish used to coat a part, such as an airplane wing or a hot-air balloon in order to waterproof, strengthen, etc.
- noun (uncountable, slang) Any of various recreational substances:
- noun An opiate, now particularly heroin.
- noun Marijuana.
- noun (uncountable, slang) Information, usually from an inside source, originally in horse racing and other sports. “What's the latest dope on the stock market?”
- noun (uncountable, firearms) Ballistic data on previously fired rounds, used to calculate the required hold over a target.
- verb (transitive, slang) To affect with drugs.
- verb (transitive) To treat with dope (lubricant, etc.).
- verb (transitive, electronics) To add a dopant such as arsenic to (a pure semiconductor such as silicon).
- verb (intransitive, now chiefly sports) To use drugs; especially, to use prohibited performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sporting competitions.
- verb (slang, transitive, dated) To judge or guess; to predict the result of.
- adjective (slang) Amazing; cool. “That party was dope!”
Synonyms
scoop alcatote asshat arsehole asshole bayard berk birdbrain blither bobchin bonehead bozo buffoon brickhead Charlie chucklehead chowderhead chump clart clown pot grass green goddess weed gage sess sens smoke skunk locoweed
Etymology
From Dutch doop (“thick dipping sauce”), from Dutch dopen (“to dip”), from Middle Dutch dopen, from Old Dutch *dōpen, from Frankish *daupijan, from Proto-Germanic *daupijaną.
“Doop” in the sense “narcotic drug” ultimately refers to viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks; “insider information” perhaps from knowing which horse had been doped in a race. Sense of "stupid person" perhaps following from the drug sense (i.e. relating to those intoxicated on opium), compare dope up. Related to English dip and German taufen. Unrelated to dopamine.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any thick liquid or pasty preparation, as of opium for medicinal purposes, of grease for a lubricant, etc.
- noun Any preparation, as of opium, used to stupefy or, in the case of a race horse, to stimulate. [Slang or Cant]
- verb To treat or affect with dope; as, to dope nitroglycerin; specif.: (a) To give stupefying drugs to; to drug. [Slang]
- verb To judge or guess; to predict the result of, as by the aid of dope. [Slang]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dope”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details