Dole | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Dōle, n.

noun

[A.-S. dāl, division, from dǣlan, dælan, to divide. Cf. DEAL.]

Sense 1. The act of dividing and distributing; dealing; apportionment.

At her general dole, Each receives his ancient soul. Cleveland.

Sense 2. That which is dealt or distributed; a part, share, or portion.

Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I. Shak.

Sense 3. That which is given in charity; alms; charitable gratuity.

So sure the dole, so ready at their call, They stood prepared to see the manna fall. Dryden.

Sense 4. That which serves to divide or separate; a boundary. Halliwell.

Sense 5. A void space left in tillage. [Prov. Eng.]

Dōle, n.

noun

[O. Fr. dol, doel, dole, N. Fr. deuil, from Lat. dolium in cordolium, sorrow at heart, grief, from dolere, to feel pain, to grieve.] Grief; sorrow. [Obs.]

And she died: So on that day there was dole in Astolat. Tennyson.

Dōle, n.

noun

n. [Lat. dolus, deceit, from Gr. δόλος; Fr. dol.] (Scots Law.) Criminal intent; evil design, regarded as a necessary ingredient to render an action criminal. Burrill. Ogilvie.

Dōle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. DOLED; p. pr. & vb. n. DOLING.] [See supra.] To deal out in small portions; to distribute; to divide; to bestow.

The supercilious condescension with which even his reputed friends doled out their praises to him. De Quincy.