dole

Meaning

Verb

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. (informal) 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.

Synonyms

handout

relief

unemployment benefit

pogey

pogy

charity

contribution

destiny

fate

grant

lamentation

mete

mourning

share

sorrow

succor

support

weeping

woe

public charity

unemployment compensation

grief

relief fund

aid

relief payment

allowance

alms

assist

benefit

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dəʊl/

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.