dole

dole¹ [dəul US doul] n [U] informal

1.) BrE money given by the government in Britain to people who are unemployed

be/go on the dole

(=be unemployed and receiving money from the government)

▪ Too many young people are still on the dole.

▪ The number claiming dole went up by 3,500.

2.) the dole queue/dole queues

BrE the number of people who are unemployed and claiming money from the government, or a line of people waiting to claim this money each week

▪ As two factories closed today, 500 people joined the dole queue .

▪ Meanwhile, dole queues lengthened.

3.) the dole

AmE money given by the government in the US to people who need financial help

= ↑welfare on the dole

▪ people on the public dole

dole ²

dole² v

dole out [dole sth<=>out] phr v

[: Old English; Origin: dal 'part, share']

to give something such as money, food, advice etc to more than one person

dole something<=>out to

▪ Vera was doling out candy to all the kids.