Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A spigot in a cask; a plug.
  • noun A wisp of hay or straw to stop up an aperture.
  • noun The rose at the end of a water-pipe.
  • noun In surgery, a pledget or small portion of lint made into a cylindrical or conical form, for purging a wound.
  • noun A roll of cloth for cleaning the ink from an engraved plate previous to printing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Surg.) A small ovoid or cylindrical roil or pledget of lint, for keeping a sore, wound, etc., open; a tent.
  • noun (Printing) A roll of cloth for wiping off the face of a copperplate, leaving the ink in the engraved lines.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun surgery A small ovoid or cylindrical roll or pledget of lint, for keeping a sore, wound, etc., open; a tent.
  • noun printing A roll of cloth for wiping off the face of a copperplate, leaving the ink in the engraved lines.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English dosil faucet of a barrel, Old French dosil, duisil, spigot, Latin diciculus, ducillus, from Latin ducere to lead, draw. See duct, duke.

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Examples

  • The bleeding from the circumflex, subscapular, and posterior scapular arteries can easily be arrested by a dossil of lint till the great vessel is tied, and they can be secured.

    A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners Joseph Bell 1874

  • And a 1755 edition has an account of early vaccinations, with Hans Sloane writing that is "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favourable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    Moneycontrol Top Headlines 2009

  • This new treaty being settled, and a dossil of lint, with a snip of plaster, applied to our adventurer’s wound, he parted from the brother of his dear Emilia, to whom and his friend Sophy he sent his kindest wishes; and having lodged one night upon the road, arrived next day in the afternoon at the garrison, where he found all his friends in good health, and overjoyed at his return.

    The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle 2004

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favorable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    The Economic Times 2009

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favorable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    The Economic Times 2009

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favorable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    Reuters: Top News 2009

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favorable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    Reuters: Top News 2009

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favorable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    Reuters: Top News 2009

  • "performed by making a very slight incision in the skin of the arm" and putting into it "a dossil dipped in the ripe matter of a favourable kind of small-pox" to protect against later severe natural infection.

    Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2009

Comments

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  • 1. In surgery, a small roll or plug of lint used to keep open a sore, wound, etc.

    2. In printing, a roll of cloth used to wipe off the face of a copper printing plate while leaving the ink in the engraved lines.

    According to Foyle, the word is derived from old English dosil, "spigot", which ultimately stems from Latin ducere, "to lead, draw."

    July 31, 2008

  • "This new treaty being settled, and a dossil of lint, with a snip of plaster, applied to our adventurer's wound, he parted from the brother of his dear Emilia..."

    — Smollet, Peregrine Pickle

    January 20, 2022