dole

Distribution; dealing; apportionment.uncountable

• c. 1650s, John Cleveland, Upon Phillis Walking in a Morning before Sun-rising At her general dole, / Each receives his ancient soul.

Distribution; dealing; apportionment.; Distribution of alms or gifts.countableuncountable

• Go not away, thou weary soul: / Heaven has in store a precious dole / Even on Bethsaida's cold and darksome height, [...]

Money or other goods given as charity.broadlyuncountable

• So sure the dole, so ready at their call, / They stood prepar'd to see the manna fall.
• Devereux […] was beholden, not only for his fun, but occasionally for his daily bread and even his liberty, to those benovolent^([sic]) doles.

Payment by the state to the unemployed; unemployment benefits.informaloftenuncountable

• I get my dole paid twice a week.
• I've been on the dole for two years now.

A boundary; a landmark.countable

• Curſed be he which tranſlateth the bounds and dolles of his Neighbor.

A void space left in tillage.UKcountabledialectal

To distribute alms, etc., in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.intransitive

To distribute (as, alms) in small amounts; to share out (small portions of a meager resource).transitive

A sorrow or grief; dolour.archaicuncountable

• Syr said sir gyngalyn I wote not what knyȝt he was / but wel I wote that he sygheth and maketh grete dole. "Sir, said Sir Gingalin, I wot not what knight he was, but well I wot that he sigheth, and maketh great dole."
• But ten slow mornings past, and on the eleventh / Her father laid the letter in her hand, / And closed the hand upon it, and she died. / So that day there was dole in Astolat.

Dolus.Scotlanduncountable

Alternative form of dhole (“Asian wild dog”).alt-ofalternative