doll

Etymology 1

From Doll, a popular pet form of Dorothy.

noun

1. A toy in the form of a human.
2. (slang) An attractive young woman.
   Some fine day we may have the country raised, and the gendarmes down upon us from Strasburg, and all owing to your pretty doll, with her cunning ways of coming over you. 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman
3. (US, Australia) A term of endearment: darling, sweetheart.
   "They didn't sell cigarettes where you were, doll?" Palmer asked. 2008, Stephen King, Willa
4. (US, dated) A good-natured, cooperative or helpful girl.
   2017, Chunk in "Skate-lebrity", The ZhuZhus Ow! These things are defective. Pipsqueak, be a doll, I need a new pair, pronto!
5. The smallest or pet pig in a litter.
6. A kind of barrier used in horse racing.
   On a beautiful spring morning, after the “dolls and chains” had been removed to allow the horses room to pass through, in galloping “across the flat,” […] 1885, William Day, The Racehorse in Training, page 87
7. (rail transport) A short signal post mounted on a bracket mounted on the main signal post, or on a signal gantry.
   The signals are on a three-doll bracket post; one doll carries two [signal] arms, one above the other. 1943 March and April, “Notes and News: Peculiar Distant Signals on L.N.E.R”, in Railway Magazine, page 116
8. (slang) A barbiturate or amphetamine pill.
   Each night she looked at the bottle of Seconals with affection. She never could do this without the dolls. She would have spent sleepless nights, smoking, worrying—and she would have lost her nerve. 1966, Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls, page 227

Etymology 2

A shortening of dollar.

noun

1. (US, obsolete) A dollar.

Etymology 3

noun

1. Obsolete form of dal.