dole out

verb

To distribute in apportioned amounts.

Meanings

verbdole out (third-person singular simple present doles out, present participle doling out, simple past and past participle doled out)

present singular third person doles out · participle present doling out · participle past doled out · past doled out

  1. 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 2012
    2 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 Atlantic

    Only 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: dish out, mete out

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo distribute in apportioned amounts.

More synonyms by meaning

verbadminister or bestow, as in small portions

Broader

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
APA

dole out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20out

MLA

“dole out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

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.