One syllable: Douse.
dows
/daʊs/
Douse is pronounced dows (/daʊs/). It has one syllable (Douse), with the stress on "Douse". Douse is a verb meaning to drench or soak something thoroughly, especially with liquid, or to extinguish a fire by pouring water on it. It can also mean to moisten something lightly or to throw a shower of liquid. The sense emphasizes total saturation or active extinguishment rather than mere dampening.
verbDouse is a verb meaning to drench or soak something thoroughly, especially with liquid, or to extinguish a fire by pouring water on it. It can also mean to moisten something lightly or to throw a shower of liquid. The sense emphasizes total saturation or active extinguishment rather than mere dampening.
"Firefighters douse the flames with water to prevent the spread."
"She doused the backyard with a hose to wash away the mud."
"They doused the grilling coals to put out the fire."
Pronounce it as /daʊs/ in all major varieties. The onset is a voiced alveolar stop /d/ with a quick transition into the diphthong /aʊ/ (as in 'how'), ending with the voiceless /s/. Stress is on the single syllable. Tip: begin with a light /d/ release, glide into /aʊ/ with your jaw dropping a bit, then finish with a clear /s/. You can reference online audio dictionaries for native speaker recordings to compare exact timing and energy.
Common mistakes include pronouncing the diphthong as a pure /a/ or as /oʊ/ instead of /aʊ/, and adding a voiced ending or a following vowel (like /dause/ or /daʊzɪ/). To correct: keep the /d/ release short, shape the /aʊ/ with a strong mouth opening then closing toward /ʊ/ barely, and finish with a crisp /s/. Practice with minimal pairs like /daʊs/ vs /daʊz/ to feel the final voiceless s.
Across US/UK/AU, the /daʊ/ diphthong remains the same color, but vowel length and subsequent consonant clarity can shift. US tends to be slightly shorter and crisper with a sharper /s/, UK often features a marginally longer onset consonant and a crisper /s/; AU may exhibit a more centralized vowel quality in rapid speech while preserving /daʊs/. The rhoticity doesn’t affect /daʊs/ since there is no rhotic vowel here, but intonation patterns can color the word in sentence stress.
The challenge lies in producing a clean /aʊ/ glide immediately after /d/, without letting the vowel drift into /ɔ/ or /oʊ/, and then transitioning to the final /s/ without adding a following sound. The tongue moves from a high front position to a more open mid-back position quickly, while keeping the /s/ voiceless and crisp. Practicing with controlled chin-down posture and a forward jaw drop helps align the diphthong and final s.
No silent letters. It’s a monosyllable with primary stress on the single syllable by default. The focus is rhythmic: start with a strong /d/ release, glide through /aʊ/ without breaking the glide, and end with a sharp /s/. In connected speech, the /s/ can link to the next word’s initial consonant if the following word begins with a sibilant, causing a bit of coarticulation.
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Douse comes from the Middle English dousten, meaning to soak or moisten, deriving from the Old English dousian, which meant to pour liquid on. The term likely originated from a Germanic root related to dosing or draining liquids and shares kinship with words for pouring or soaking in several Germanic languages. By the 16th century, douse began to appear in English texts with the sense of wetting thoroughly, often used in maritime and kitchen contexts. Over time, its usage broadened from wetting to extinguishing fires (pouring water on flames) and figuratively to dampen enthusiasm or morale in certain idiomatic expressions. The core idea throughout history remains the act of saturating or thoroughly wetting something, with a strong association to water as the liquid source. First known uses appear in technical or practical manuals and nautical logs where pouring substantial quantities of water was common practice for control and safety. Modern usage maintains this core meaning while expanding to figurative uses in everyday speech.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Douse" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Douse" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Douse"
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