dope
dope
(dōp) noun
1.
Informal. a. A narcotic, especially an addictive narcotic. b. Narcotics considered as a group. c. An illicit drug, especially marijuana.
2. A narcotic preparation used to stimulate a racehorse.
3. Informal. A person regarded as stupid.
4. Informal. Factual information, especially of a private nature.
5. Chemistry. An absorbent or adsorbent material used in certain manufacturing processes, such as the nitroglycerin used in making dynamite.
6. A type of lacquer formerly used to protect, waterproof, and tauten the cloth surfaces of airplane wings.
7. Chiefly Southern U.S.. See cola1.
8. Lower Northern U.S.. Syrup or sweet sauce poured on ice cream.
verb
doped, doping, dopes
verb
, transitive
1.
Informal. a. To administer a narcotic to: was doped up for the operation. b. To add a narcotic to: They doped his drink before robbing him.
2. Informal. To figure out (a puzzle, for example).
3. Informal. To make a rough plan of: doped out our proposal on scratch paper.
4. Electronics. To treat (a semiconductor) with a dopant.
verb
, intransitive
Informal.
To take narcotics.
[Dutch doop, sauce, from doopen, to dip.]
dop
ʹer noun
Regional Note:
Before it came to mean "a narcotic or narcotics considered as a group,"dope was borrowed into English from the Dutch word doop,"sauce." Throughout the 19th century it meant "gravy." In the lower northern United States, from Pennsylvania westward to Missouri, dope still means "a sauce of sorts"; it is now the term for a topping for ice cream, such as syrup or a chocolate or fruit sauce. In the South, on the other hand, dope means "a cola-flavored soft drink." The term might be related to the northern usage as a reference to the sweet syrup base of a cola drink. However, folk wisdom has it that dope recalls the inclusion of minute amounts of cocaine in the original Atlanta recipe for Coca-Cola, which was named after this exotic ingredient.