English Explanatory Dictionary

dole

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To distribute in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.
noun
  1. Money or other goods given as charity.
  2. Distribution; dealing; apportionment.
  3. Payment by the state to the unemployed; unemployment benefits.
  4. A boundary; a landmark.
  5. A void space left in tillage.
noun
  1. A sorrow or grief; dolour.
  2. Dolus.
noun
  1. Alternative form of dhole (“Asian wild dog”).
name
  1. A surname.
  2. Dole Constituency, a parliamentary constituency in Zanzibar.
  3. A commune in Jura department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
  4. A hamlet in Tirymynach community, Ceredigion, Wales (OS grid ref SN6386).
name
  1. Acronym of Department of Labor and Employment.

Pronunciation

/dəʊl/ [dɒʊl] /dɒl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dole.wav /dol/ dōl [doʊ̯ɫ] /ˈdole/

Word forms

dole doles doling doled

Etymology

From Middle English dol, from Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”), from Proto-Germanic *dailą (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰayl- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Old Church Slavonic дѣлити (děliti, “divide”). More at deal.

Synonyms

pancrack pogey

Derived words

dole out dole bludger dole bread dole head dolehead doleite dole meadow dole merchant dole queue doleful dolesome dolewave Dole effect
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