dole out

verb

doled out; doling out; doles out
Synonyms of dole outnext

transitive verb

1
: to give or deliver in small portions
2
: dish out

Synonyms of dole out

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus
Choose the Right Synonym for dole out

distribute, dispense, divide, deal, dole out mean to give out, usually in shares, to each member of a group.

distribute implies an apportioning by separation of something into parts, units, or amounts.

distributed food to the needy

dispense suggests the giving of a carefully weighed or measured portion to each of a group according to due or need.

dispensed wisdom to the students

divide stresses the separation of a whole into parts and implies that the parts are equal.

three charitable groups divided the proceeds

deal emphasizes the allotment of something piece by piece.

deal out equipment and supplies

dole out implies a carefully measured portion of something that is often in short supply.

doled out what little food there was

Examples of dole out in a Sentence

she doles out office supplies as if she were paying for them out of her own pocket
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In Massachusetts, more than $146 million has been doled out in down payment help to homebuyers since 2020. — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026 The form indicated tickets would be doled out for either of two different games. — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 19 Oct. 2026 Some retailers might go all out starting at midnight on Friday, and others will wait until Monday to dole out some of their best deals. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026 Cubanski said the Medicare rebate payments were being doled out when Americans were feeling the bite of higher food, energy and gas prices. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dole out

Word History

First Known Use

1749, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dole out was in 1749

Rhymes for dole out

See All Rhymes for dole out

Browse Nearby Words

dolentissimo
dole out
dolerite
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dole out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dole%20out. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All