1. If someone dowses for underground water, minerals, or some other substance, they search for it using a special rod. He said that dowsing for water is complete nonsense We dowse oil and ore in South America for big companies. a dowsing rod. see also douse. To use a divining rod to search for underground water or minerals. Variant of douse. to look for water or minerals under the ground using a special stick that points to where they are. another spelling of douse