doss
/dɔs/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To sleep in a convenient or makeshift place, especially one that is not a proper bed: This informal, chiefly British term describes sleeping temporarily in an available but often uncomfortable or unconventional location, such as on a floor, in a cheap lodging house, or in any place one can "crash" for the night.
Usage and Examples
- Verb:
- We had no money for a hotel, so we had to doss on the floor at a friend's flat.
- He often dosses down in the park when the shelters are full.
- "You can doss here for the night if you don't mind the sofa," he offered.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "doss down": A common phrasal verb meaning to settle down to sleep in a temporary or improvised place.
- After the long journey, we just dossed down in the living room.
- The word carries connotations of impermanence, lack of comfort, and often poverty or necessity. It is informal slang.
Variants and Related Words
- Dosser (noun): A person who sleeps rough or lives by dossing.
- The charity provides meals for dossers and the homeless.
- Doss-house (noun): A very cheap, run-down lodging house or hostel.
- He spent a few nights in a grim doss-house near the docks.
Synonyms
- Crash (informal): To sleep, especially temporarily at someone's place.
- Can I crash at your place tonight?
- Kip down (British informal): To sleep, especially in a makeshift bed.
- Sleep rough: To sleep outdoors without proper shelter.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Doss down: To go to sleep in an available, often uncomfortable, place.
- We'll just have to doss down wherever we can find space.
Related Idioms
- To live on the doss: To live without a permanent home, sleeping in various temporary places.
- After losing his job, he ended up living on the doss for a few months.
Verb
- sleep in a convenient place
- You can crash here, though it's not very comfortable