mete

¹ American  

[meet] / mit /

verb (used with object)

meted, meting

1. to distribute or apportion by measure; allot; dole (usually followed byout ).

   to mete out punishment.

   Synonyms:

   parcel, measure, deal

2. Archaic. to measure.

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mete ² American  

[meet] / mit /

noun

1. a limiting mark.

2. a limit or boundary.

   Synonyms:

   bound

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mete ¹ British  

/ miːt /

verb

1. formal (usually foll by out) to distribute or allot (something, often unpleasant)

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verb

1. poetic (to) measure

mete ² British  

/ miːt /

noun

1. rare a mark, limit, or boundary (esp in the phrase metes and bounds )

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Other Word Forms

• unmeted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mete¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English metan; cognate with Dutch meten, Old Norse meta, Gothic mitan, German messen to measure, Greek mḗdesthai to ponder

Origin of mete²

1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French < Latin mēta goal, turning post

Explanation

If you "mete out" something (the word is usually followed by "out"), it means you dish it out in very careful measured amounts. Anyone who metes out their love probably isn't someone you want to have a relationship with. Another word often used interchangeably with mete is dole, though there are slight differences in meaning: dole suggests a more lavish, unthinking form of activity than the more stingy and controlled mete, and while some nice things (like compassion or love) can be "doled out," it's very rare that anything pleasant or happy is "meted out."

Example Sentences

In the Performance variant, this pack metes out just 255 miles of range, officially.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026

It might not sound like it from the description, but as these three rather stray individuals intersect, the series metes out comedy and dysfunctional romance with a sure hand.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2024

But country stations still retain a significant gatekeeping power, elevating favored performers and mediating the genre’s metes and bounds for audiences and the industry at large.

From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2024

The OCE examines complaints from outside groups and decides whether to refer them to the House Ethics Committee, which metes out punishment for lawmakers ranging from a letter of reprimand to, rarely, an expulsion recommendation.

From Washington Times • Jan. 18, 2023

We cannot set thy metes and bounds, for thou art thine own eternal law.

From Peggy Owen and Liberty by Madison, Lucy Foster