Meanings
present singular third person doles out · participle present doling out · participle past doled out · past doled out
- idiomatictransitiveTo distribute in apportioned amounts.
The animators, writers and Gilbert do a fantastic job of making Laura an eminently crush-worthy figure of adolescent yearning but the episode doles out scenes of her and Bart together sparingly.
2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 14 Aug 20122 more examples
The McCains, by contrast, dole out such homespun wisdom as "in Arizona, the only way to get around the state is by small private plane" and understand that in this crazy modern world where the typical family owns eleven homes and spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on household staff, you can't possibly expect transportation alternatives to gain popularity.
2008 July 15, Matthew Yglesias, “Obama's Elitism Problem, Continued”, in The AtlanticOnly then did we learn that he doled out billions in secret, last-minute bonuses to his staff last month, just before Bank of America took over and just before the government ponied up a second bailout to cover Merrill’s unexpected $15 billion fourth-quarter loss.
2009 January 25, Frank Rich, “No Time for Poetry”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
verbadminister or bestow, as in small portions
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Dutch verdelen, uitdelen
- verdelento distribute in small quantities
- uitdelento distribute in small quantities
French distribuer
- distribuerto distribute in small quantities
German (gleichmäßig) austeilen
- (gleichmäßig) austeilento distribute in small quantities
Italian distribuire
- distribuireto distribute in small quantities
Japanese 分け与える
- 分け与えるto distribute in small quantities
Māori tōronga
- tōrongato distribute in small quantities
Spanish erogar, repartir
- erogarto distribute in small quantities
- repartirto distribute in small quantities
- distribuirto distribute in small quantities
Cite this entry
dole out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20out
“dole out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dole out,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20out.
Source: dole out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.