Meanings
plural doughboys
- USAn American infantryman, especially one from World War I.
The "dough boys" were loaded into army wagons drawn by mules, and with the cavalry at the flanks the relief column started.
1901 July 19, “Horses in time of War”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 10, page 2961 more example
The miser, a-seeking lost gelt, / The doughboy, awaiting the battle, / May possibly know how I felt / While the long years dragged by as the dealer / As slow as the slowest of dubs, / Stuck out the last helping of tickets / 'Till I lifted—the Bullet of Clubs!
1969, Robert L. Vann, The Competitor, volumes 2-3, page 135
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From dough + boy; its use to refer to an infantryman is unknown, but dates from 1847, during the Mexican–American War.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch infanterist, knoedel
- infanteristA kind of dumpling
- knoedelA kind of dumpling
- gebakken broodA kind of dumpling
Māori motumotu, pokenga kinikini
- motumotuA kind of dumpling
- pokenga kinikiniA kind of dumpling
Cite this entry
doughboy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughboy
“doughboy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughboy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doughboy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughboy.
Source: doughboy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.