I. dose 1 /dəʊs $ doʊs/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: French ; Origin: Greek dosis , from didonai 'to give' ]
1 . the amount of a medicine or a drug that you should take
dose of
Never exceed the recommended dose of painkillers.
high/low dose
Start with a low dose and increase it.
2 . an amount of something that you do or experience at one time, especially something unpleasant
a bad/mild dose of flu British English (=making you feel very ill or only slightly ill)
Dave had a bad dose of flu.
lethal/fatal dose (of something) (=an amount that kills)
a lethal dose of radiation
I quite like Jamie in small doses (=in limited amounts but not a lot or often) .
3 . like a dose of salts British English informal very quickly and easily:
The cleaners went through the house like a dose of salts.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a high/large dose
High doses of the drug can have bad side effects.
▪ a low/small dose
Treatment should be started with a small dose.
▪ a daily dose
The study shows that a daily dose of aspirin may reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer.
▪ the recommended dose (=recommended by medical experts)
The current recommended dose is 250 mg a day.
▪ a lethal/fatal dose (=an amount that kills you)
She took a lethal dose of painkillers.
▪ a single dose
The medicine is given as a single dose.
■ verbs
▪ take a dose of something
He had taken his usual dose of sleeping pills.
▪ give somebody a dose
A nurse came in to give me a dose of antibiotics.
▪ exceed the dose (=take more of a medicine than is recommended)
You should take care not to exceed the recommended dose of paracetamol.
II. dose 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] ( also dose up )
to give someone medicine or a drug
dose somebody/yourself with something
Sumi dosed herself up with aspirin and went to bed.