dole1 /dəʊl $ doʊl/ noun [uncountableU] informal 1 PEW British EnglishBrE money given by the government in Britain to people who are unemployed 〔英国政府发放的〕失业救济金be/go on the dole (=be unemployed and receiving money from the government) 领取政府的失业救济金 Too many young people are still on the dole. 还在吃政府救济的年轻人太多了。
The number claiming dole went up by 3,500. 申请领取救济金者增加了3,500人。
2 the dole queue/dole queues informal British EnglishBrE 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 领取失业救济金的人数;等待领取失业救济金的队伍 As two factories closed today, 500 people joined the dole queue. 由于今天两家工厂倒闭,又有500人加入了领取失业救济金的行列。
Dole queues lengthened. 领失业救济金的人数增加了。
3 the dole informal American EnglishAmE money given by the government in the US to people who need financial help 救济金 SYN welfareon the dole How many people are on the public dole? 有多少人在领取政府救济金?
the public dole• I want to be on the public dole.