What does dout mean?
Dout is a dialectal English verb meaning to extinguish or put out a flame — a candle, a fire, a lamp, or a pipe. It survives chiefly in Scottish and Northern English speech and in literary or historical prose that seeks an older, homelier flavour than 'extinguish' provides. A farmer might dout the lantern after the evening rounds; a householder douts the hearth before bed. The word's charm lies in its construction: it is a compressed form of 'do out', making it a sibling of 'don' ('do on') and 'doff' ('do off'), those compact verbs that English formed in the Middle Ages by fusing 'do' with a preposition. Though rare today, it remains fully understood in context, and writers reach for it when they want warmth, brevity, or a touch of the vernacular. Because it sounds identical to 'doubt', readers meeting it in print sometimes mistake it for an error — but it is a genuine, if elderly, member of the language.
verbTo extinguish or put out (a flame, candle, or fire); to snuff out.
- To extinguish or put out a flame, candle, or fire (chiefly Scottish and Northern English dialect).
"She leaned forward to dout the candle before the wax spilled."
"He paused at the door to dout his pipe before entering the house."
"The keeper douted the lamp once the last boat was safely ashore."
'Dout' belongs to the same quirky family as 'don' and 'doff' — it's simply 'do' plus 'out', the forgotten sibling of words you already use.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dout
Dout arose in Middle English as a contraction of the phrase 'do out', meaning to put out or extinguish. It belongs to a small family of fused verbs built on 'do', alongside 'don' (from 'do on') and 'doff' (from 'do off'). The word has remained chiefly regional, persisting in Scottish and Northern English long after it faded from general southern usage, and it appears regularly in Scots literature and dialect writing.
How dout is actually used
'Dout' is now largely confined to Scottish and Northern English dialect and to literary or historical writing; standard modern English prefers 'extinguish', 'put out', or 'snuff out'. It is not used in everyday American speech.
Easily confused with dout
'Doubt' means to be uncertain or distrustful of something, whereas 'dout' means to extinguish a flame; they sound nearly identical but share no meaning.