mete
To dispense, measure in order to dispense, allotTo dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» My teacher meted out physical punishment to his pupils.
Tatoeba contributors · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
2 languagesExamples
4 sentencesMy teacher meted out physical punishment to his pupils.
The court has the power to mete out sentences.
It's punishment meted out on the basis of skin color.
Meaning
1 senses(usually)To dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).
Origin
From Middle English meten, from Old English metan (“to measure, mete out, mark off, comparFrom Middle English meten, from Old English metan (“to measure, mete out, mark off, compare, estimate; pass over, traverse”), from Proto-West Germanic *metan, from Proto-Germanic *metaną (“to measure”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, consider”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
metes, meting, meted, metedTenses
mete · meted · will mete · have metedWord family
10 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.