dole
pronunciation
How to pronounce dole in British English:
UK [dəʊl]
How to pronounce dole in American English:
US [doʊl]
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- Noun:
- a share of money or food or clothing that has been charitably given
- money received from the state
Word Origin
- dole
- dole: [OE] In Old English, the noun dāl meant simply ‘part, portion’ (it came from a Germanic base *dail-, which also produced English deal). By the 14th century this had developed into the more specific ‘portion (of food, money, etc) handed out as a charitable donation to those in need’. This is the source of the phrase on the dole ‘receiving government benefit’, first recorded in the 1920s. The verb dole ‘distribute’ arose in the 15th century; its modern use, dole out, is an 18th-century development.=> deal
- dole (n.)
- Old English dal "state of being divided; sharing, giving out," shortened from gedal "portion," related to dæl "deal," from Proto-Germanic *dailiz (cognates: Old Frisian and Old Saxon del, Middle Dutch deil, Dutch deel, Old High German teil, German Teil). On the dole is 1920s.
- dole (v.)
- "hand out charity," mid-15c., from dole (n.). Doled; doling.
Example
- 1. The results are helping utilities dole out electricity more efficiently .
- 2. Regulators dole out investment quotas that are managed by investment banks .
- 3. There are also many unanswered questions over how to dole out the money .
- 4. Don 't be tempted to dole out equity to everyone who helps you found the company -- even it makes you feel good to have co-founders .
- 5. If secular humanism is a court-recognized religion , he figured , then be prepared to dole out the tax-exempt rewards along with the after-life punishments !