dole queue

noun

Historically a queue to receive the dole (unemployment benefit), now used in reference to the number of people who are unemployed and claiming state benefit.

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Meanings

noundole queue (plural dole queues)

plural dole queues

  1. UKHistorically a queue to receive the dole (unemployment benefit), now used in reference to the number of people who are unemployed and claiming state benefit.

    It has taken people off the dole queue, and its online jobseekers board is updated daily.

    2021 September 8, “Network News: HS2 jobs boost - but skills shortage a concern”, in RAIL, number 939, page 16
    1 more example

    Wadebridge area railwaymen were reported in the local press as "worried", while National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) Wadebridge branch secretary W J Hambly believed "the rail closures will mean dole queues at the Labour Exchange for many".

    2023 March 22, Mike Esbester, “Staff, the public and industry will suffer”, in RAIL, number 979, page 38
Cite this entry
APA

dole queue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20queue

MLA

“dole queue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20queue. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dole queue,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dole%20queue.

Source: dole queue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.