From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dozen \Doz"en\ (d[u^]z"'n), noun; pl. {Dozen} (before another noun), {Dozens} (d[u^]z"'nz). [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See {Two}, {Ten}, and cf. {Duodecimal}.]
1. A collection of twelve objects; a tale or set of twelve; with or without of before the substantive which follows. ''Some six or seven dozen of Scots.'' ''A dozen of shirts to your back.'' ''A dozen sons.'' ''Half a dozen friends.'' --Shak.
2. An indefinite small number. --Milton.
{A baker's dozen}, thirteen; -- called also a {long dozen}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a large number or amount; "made lots of new friends"; "she amassed a mountain of newspapers" [syn: {tons}, {heaps}, {lots}, {mountain}, {piles}, {scores}, {stacks}, {loads}, {rafts}, {slews}, {wads}, {oodles}, {gobs}, {scads}, {lashings}]
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