Lexic.us

Definition of Dowse

1. Verb. Wet thoroughly. "Water and alcohol dowse the cloth"

2. Noun. Searching for underground water or minerals by using a dowsing rod.

3. Verb. Use a divining rod in search of underground water or metal.

4. Verb. Slacken. ; "Douse a rope"

5. Verb. Cover with liquid; pour liquid onto. "They dowse the cloth with water and alcohol"; "Souse water on his hot face"

Definition of Dowse

1. v. t. To plunge, or duck into water; to immerse; to douse.

2. v. i. To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc.

3. n. A blow on the face.

Definition of Dowse

1. Noun. A blow on the face. ¹

2. Verb. To plunge, or duck into water; to immerse; to douse. ¹

3. Verb. To beat or thrash. ¹

4. Verb. To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Dowse

1. to search for underground water with a divining rod [v DOWSED, DOWSING, DOWSES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dowse

downzone downzoned downzones downzoning dowp dowps dowral dowress dowresses dowries

dowry dowryless dows dowsabel dowsabels dowse (current term) dowsed dowser dowsers dowses

dowset dowsets dowsing dowsing rod dowsing rods dowsings dowst dowsts dowt dowts

Literary usage of Dowse

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. American Journal of Education (1857)
"He was the son of Eleazer dowse, and a descendant of Lawrence dowse, ... This library, which he had spent a lifetime in collecting, Mr. dowse felt unwilling ..."

2. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1901)
"dowse (i), to strike in the face. (E. ?) Apparently the same as Douse i above). ... dowse (2), to immerse; see Douse, Prob, the same as dowse (i). Doxology. ..."

3. Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of by Samuel Atkins Eliot (1906)
"Edmund dowse was the son of Benjamin dowse, a leather dresser, manufacturer and farmer of ... Lawrence dowse, who came from Broughton in Hampshire County, ..."

4. Heralds of a Liberal Faith by Samuel Atkins Eliot (1910)
"He was the second son of Dr. Peter Gilman Robbins, his mother's maiden name being Abba dowse. It was thought by many of his friends that Chandler Robbins ..."

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