Meaning & use
doll
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small model of a person, often a child's toy.
Grammar: Countable: a doll, two dolls.
Patterns
- a doll
- play with dolls
She got a new doll for her birthday.
The child carried her favorite doll everywhere.
The dolls were dressed in tiny clothes.
nouncountableinformalold-fashioned
A kind person, especially a woman (informal, dated).
Grammar: Usually singular and used as a compliment; can sound old-fashioned or condescending today.
Patterns
- be a doll
- such a doll
Thanks for helping me—you're a doll.
She's a real doll to work with.
Word forms
| plural | dolls |
|---|
Common combinations
- play with dolls
- The children played with dolls all afternoon.
- a doll's house
- He built a doll's house for his niece.
- rag doll
- The baby hugged a soft rag doll.
- be a doll
- Be a doll and pass me the salt.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- dollhouse noun
- A miniature house for dolls.
- dolly noun
- A child's word for a doll; also a wheeled platform.
Commonly confused: doll or dole?
doll vs dole
Dole is money given by the government to unemployed people; doll is a toy.
Practice
Choose the correct word: The little girl dressed her ___ in a blue dress.
Choose one answer.
A doll is a toy figure that can be dressed. Dole is unemployment money, dull means boring, and doll's would need a following noun like doll's dress.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “doll”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.