dozen

/ˈdʌzən/

/ˈdʌzɪn/

Other forms: dozens

A dozen is twelve. If you buy a dozen doughnuts for six people, everyone will get to eat two of them.

When you buy a dozen of something, you'll end up with twelve items. Your cat might, amazingly, have a dozen kittens, leading you to make a dozen phone calls trying to find homes for them all. Sometimes people use the word dozens to generically mean "a whole lot," as when you gasp, "There are dozens of seagulls sitting on my car!" Dozen has a Latin root, duodecim, "twelve."

Definitions of dozen

1. noun

   the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
   synonyms: 12, XII, twelve

   types:

   boxcars

   (usually plural) an expression used when two dice are thrown and both come up showing six spots

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
2. adjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of 12 items or units
   synonyms: 12, twelve, xii

   cardinal

   being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order