And here, the film is exceptionally smart and careful, … Finding Dory's real emotional power comes from Dory's relationship with her memory condition. noun Word forms: plural -ries 1. any spiny-finned marine teleost food fish of the family Zeidae, esp the John Dory, having a deep compressed body 2. dory (Noun) A small flat bottomed boat used for fishing both offshore and on rivers. The dory skiff is another variation of the dory type. Dory swims about trying to understand the whale's vocalizations. The first known mention of a dory in detail was in 1719. ries. Dory definition: any spiny-finned marine teleost food fish of the family Zeidae, esp the John Dory, having... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Log In Dictionary Definition of dory : a flat-bottomed boat with high flaring sides, sharp bow, and deep V-shaped transom Examples of dory in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web At the dawn of the 20th century, Lowell’s was producing 1,500 to 2,000 dories a year. dory - a small boat of shallow draft with cross thwarts for seats and rowlocks for oars with which it is propelled dinghy, rowboat oarlock, rowlock, thole, tholepin, peg, pin - a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing rowing boat - a rowboat High sided and fine ended boats, such as dories, are effected by wind. a boat with a narrow, flat bottom, high bow, and flaring sides.