dole

3 definitions • 4 examples

the money that the government gives to people who are unemployed:

on the dole Young people on (= receiving) the dole are often bored and frustrated.

go on the dole If I can't find any work within a month, I'll have to go on the dole.

the money that unemployed people receive from the government:

Workers, in their countless thousands, were facing the dole.

unemployed and receiving money from the government:

He spent eighteen months on the dole.