Refers to a short-bladed weapon, often associated with yakuza or criminal contexts.
彼は懐にどすを隠し持っていた。
He was carrying a dagger hidden in his breast pocket.
threatening tone; menacing quality
Describes a voice or manner that carries a veiled threat; derived from 脅す (おどす).
See also: 脅す
彼の声にはどすが効いていた。
There was a threatening edge to his voice.
Prefix used in a few compounds to indicate muddiness or turbidity, e.g., どす黒い (dark and muddy).
どす黒い雲が空を覆った。
Murky dark clouds covered the sky.
auxiliary
Only with reading どす
Polite copula in Kyoto dialect, abbreviated from でおす. Used at the end of sentences.
See also: おす
The man was carrying a dagger inside his coat.
This is delicious. (Kyoto dialect)
彼はどすを利かせた声で相手を黙らせた。
He silenced the other man with a voice full of menace.
おす and どす are both Kyoto-dialect equivalents of です, used somewhat interchangeably at sentence end.
ドス and みく are both yakuza slang for a blade used in crime, but ドス is far more widely recognized and often implies a short sword specifically.
です is the standard polite copula used nationwide, while どす is its Kyoto-dialect counterpart with a similar sound but regional flavor.
book; volume; script · this; present; current; in question · main; head; principal · real; genuine; regular; proper · counter for long cylindrical objects; counter for films, TV shows, etc.; counter for goals, home runs, etc.; counter for telephone calls
Hiragana spelling is standard for all senses.
Katakana variant, often used for emphasis or in informal writing.
Sense 1 (dagger) is of uncertain origin, possibly from a dialectal or slang term. Sense 2 is from 脅す (おどす, 'to threaten'). Sense 3 is a prefix of uncertain derivation. Sense 4 is a contraction of でおす, a polite copula in Kyoto dialect.