dango

dango noun: a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour).

Noun (1)

dango (plural dangos or dango)

A Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour).
- On a given day he went to the parental home of his bride to inquire after the health of the family, when they gave him some dango (dumplings) to eat.1906 June 21, The Christian Advocate, volume 81, page 916
- Dango are related to mochi in that both are made from glutinous rice flour. Dango, however, tend to be dense, sticky, and not stuffed with fillings.2012, Patrick Mcconnel, 30 Days in Japan

dango (uncountable)

In Japan, bid rigging for public works contracts.
- However the manner in which dango, bribery, and collusive activity was dealt with in Japan took a dramatic turn in 1993, beginning with the corruption scandal, which culminated in the arrest of Mr. Shini Kanemaru […]1994, Industry, Trade, and Technology Review, Office of Industries, U.S. International Trade Commission, page 31
- Though dango is illegal, causing jailings of a number of prefectural governors and construction executives, the practice remains widespread. The annual total of dango bribes and kickbacks has at times surpassed $500 million; the sum is more or less officially recorded because construction firms...2009, Jeb Brugmann, Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World

Grill the dangos until marks appear and then lightly brush the thick sauce over it.2014, Martha Stone, Asian Dumplings at a Glance:
Though dango is illegal, causing jailings of a number of prefectural governors and construction executives, the practice remains widespread.2009, Jeb Brugmann, Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World:

plural	dangos
plural	dango

Borrowed from Japanese 団子 (dango).

Borrowed from Japanese 談合 (dangō).

What does dango mean?: Dango means a Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour).
How do you use dango in a sentence?: Grill the dangos until marks appear and then lightly brush the thick sauce over it.
What part of speech is dango?: Dango is a noun.
What is the plural of dango?: The plural of dango is dangos.

Adapted from Wiktionary: dango (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “dango.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dango. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.