Basic Details
Word: Dozed
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Slept lightly for a short time, often without meaning to.
Synonyms: napped, nodded off, drowsed, slumbered
Antonyms: woke, stirred
Sounds like: dosed (given a measured amount of medicine)
How to Spell Dozed
Syllables: dozed
Tricky part: The buzzing sound is written z, not s, even though rose and nosed use s. Doze already ends in e, so only d is added.
Watch out for: dozzed, doazed, dozd
Memory tip: Cartoons show a sleeper with zzz floating above the head, so a person who dozed has a z in the middle.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Grandpa dozed in his armchair after lunch.
Example 2: I dozed off on the bus to Shimla and missed the best view.
Example 3: The cat dozed in a patch of sunlight on the balcony.
Fun Fact
The machine called a bulldozer has nothing to do with sleep; its name is thought to come from bulldose, old American slang for a dose of punishment strong enough for a bull.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word dozed as used in the sentence:
During the long speech about budget figures, several parents dozed in the back row of the hall.
a) cheered
b) whispered
c) argued
d) nodded off
Show answer
d) nodded off. To doze is to slip into a light sleep, which is what nodding off means.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The night guard ezdod at his post, and the thief slipped past him.
a) dosed
b) dozen
c) dozed
d) oozed
Show answer
c) dozed. The jumble holds a z and two d's, a mix that only dozed contains.
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. drowzy 2. snoaring 3. dozed 4. yawnning
a) opening the mouth wide when tired
b) sleepy and only half awake
c) slept lightly for a short time
d) breathing noisily while asleep
Show answer
c) slept lightly for a short time. Snoring has no a, yawning has one n, and drowsy is written with an s, which leaves dozed.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Someone who dozed through a film ____.
a) paid twice for it
b) walked out early
c) watched every minute
d) slept through parts of it
Show answer
d) slept through parts of it
2. Which word looks almost like dozed but means given medicine?
a) dosed
b) dotted
c) dozen
d) doused
Show answer
a) dosed
