Meanings
- UKuncountableA method of fare evasion by buying tickets only covering the beginning and the end of a journey.
3 more examples
2006, Carl Bro Group Ltd, FareXChange Scoping Study Final Report v1.0, section 8.6.1, Department for Transport, http://naptan.dft.gov.uk/transxchange/farexchange/FareXChange%20Scoping%20Study%20Final%20Report%20v1.0.pdf, Particular considerations apply to circumstances such as doughnutting when fare elements do not correspond to controllable elements, so there arises the opportunity for fare evasion.
2012, WickedWolfie, reply to South West Trains. Liars? Thieves? Generally unhelpful., MoneySavingExpert Forum, https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57775841/#Comment_57775841, The post before you (rightly) says that overriding season tickets is a regular fare con, as is doughnutting (having tickets for the start and the end of the journey with a gap - often large - in the middle), the latter exposes the limitations of ticket gates.....
2014, scottwalds, Re: [Mega Hot tea] Penalty fares on trains, Tony's Non-League Forum, https://web.archive.org/web/20220120132212/https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?post=561451#561451, There is a technique known as doughnutting, where you buy a ticket covering your first and last stops, to allow you to pass through the ticket barriers at both ends.
Synonyms: dumbbelling
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of doughnut
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA method of fare evasion by buying tickets only covering the beginning and the end of a journey.
Origin
From doughnut. When this method of fare evasion is used on the London Underground, the area covered by the ticket looks like a doughnut, with a hole in the middle.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
doughnutting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughnutting
“doughnutting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughnutting. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doughnutting,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doughnutting.
Source: doughnutting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.