dole
noun/dəʊl/
/dəʊl/
[singular] (usually the dole)
(British English, informal)- money paid by the state to unemployed people
- on the dole He's been on the dole (= without a job) for a year.
- The changes will affect about 80 per cent of those receiving the dole.
- There have been calls to increase dole payments.
- We could all be in the dole queue on Monday (= have lost our jobs).
Collocations UnemploymentUnemploymentLosing your job- lose your job
- (British English) become/be made redundant
- be offered/take voluntary redundancy/early retirement
- face/be threatened with dismissal/(British English) the sack/(British English) compulsory redundancy
- dismiss/fire/ (especially British English) sack an employee/a worker/a manager
- lay off staff/workers/employees
- (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English) retrench workers
- cut/reduce/downsize/slash the workforce
- (British English) make staff/workers/employees redundant
- be unemployed/out of work/out of a job
- seek/look for work/employment
- be on/collect/draw/get/receive (both British English) unemployment benefit/jobseeker’s allowance
- be/go/live/sign (British English, informal) on the dole
- claim/draw/get (British English, informal) the dole
- be on/qualify for (North American English) unemployment (compensation)
- be/go/live/depend (North American English) on welfare
- collect/receive (North American English) welfare
- combat/tackle/cut/reduce unemployment
Extra ExamplesTopics Social issuesc2- Many had come off the dole and set up their own small businesses.
- School leavers were joining the dole queue every day.
- She lost her job and had to go on the dole.
- I was on the dole for three years before I got a job.
- The factory closure will mean another few hundred people having to live on the dole.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + dole- claim
- go on
- sign on
- …
- money
- queue
- office
- …
- off the dole
- on the dole
Word OriginOld English dāl ‘division, portion, or share’, of Germanic origin; related to deal. The sense ‘distribution of charitable gifts’ dates from Middle English; the sense ‘unemployment benefit’ dates from the early 20th cent.
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