doz‧en S2 W3 / dʌz ə n / number ( 复数形式 dozen or dozens ) ( written abbreviation doz. )

1 twelve :

a dozen eggs

two/three/four etc dozen (= 24, 36, 48 etc )

The number of deaths has risen to more than two dozen.

dozens of people/companies/cars etc (= but not hundreds or thousands )

Dozens of people were killed.

Chris, Helen, and half a dozen others went on holiday together.

A dozen or so (= about 12 ) cars were parked near the entrance.

2 informal a lot of

a dozen

I’ve heard this story a dozen times before.

dozens of something

She’s had dozens of boyfriends.

We collected dozens and dozens of shells on the beach.

→ baker’s dozen , → a dime a dozen at dime ( 2 ) , → nineteen to the dozen at nineteen ( 2 ) , → six of one and half a dozen of another at six ( 4 )