dollop
Americannoun
-
a lump or blob of some substance.
dollops of mud.
-
a small quantity.
Add a dollop of soda water to the mixture.
verb (used with object)
-
dollops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dolloped,
past participle, past
-
dolloping
present participle
noun
-
a semisolid lump
-
a large serving, esp of food
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dollopsimple
-
dollopssimple
-
have dollopedperfect
-
has dollopedperfect
-
am dollopingprogressive
-
are dollopingprogressive
-
is dollopingprogressive
-
have been dollopingperfect progressive
-
has been dollopingperfect progressive
Past
-
dollopedsimple
-
had dollopedperfect
-
was dollopingprogressive
-
were dollopingprogressive
-
had been dollopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dollop
1565–75; compare Icelandic dōlpur fat man, Norwegian (dial.) dolp lump
Explanation
A dollop is a small, indefinite amount of something. You might ask for a dollop of sour cream on your taco. English has many words for amounts of something that aren't exact. For example, a load is a lot of something, but a dollop is a little. If you're watching your weight, you may only want a dollop of dressing on your salad. Most people use a dollop of shampoo when washing their hair. You can't measure a dollop, but it should be a fairly small amount. If you use a whole bottle of ketchup, that's far more than a dollop.
Vocabulary lists containing dollop
Hamilton
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The Hate U Give
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The BFG
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
My stomach was in knots as I pictured myself clad in a lemon chiffon dress looking like a dollop of meringue, doing the Viennese waltz — something resembling a Centrum Silver commercial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Add a dollop or two of fig jam.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
And there is always a healthy dollop of nostalgia when reminiscing about kits - those hazy childhood memories relived through a golden filter.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Finish with a generous dollop of ricotta and shower with freshly grated Parmigiano.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
She curled her tongue around the edge of the cone, scooping up a dollop of purple that made my eyes water.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
A seasonal salad and dollops of spiced yogurt round out plates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Cuban composer Tania León added dollops of exciting modernism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025
Other scientists praise the study’s innovative use of high-resolution imaging technology to turn dollops of dung into goldmines of information.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
The idea was born out of frugality, using leftover tikkas and mixing it in a thick tomato gravy and dollops of butter.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2024
It was chocolate and sugar spun into sweet little dollops that melted in your mouth.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
I swirled a half-cup around the crust and dolloped it with fat shreds of fresh mozzarella and torn basil leaves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
They whipped whitefish, blueberries and lard into a traditional Alaska Native dessert, and dolloped servings onto a paper plate, setting it in the flames to feed her spirit.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
Served dolloped into ice cream scoop-sized servings, it dared you to define your own relationship with it.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2022
I use it dolloped over a toasted slab of sourdough or as a spread in veggie sandwiches.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 21, 2022
He’s just dolloped there in his best robes, and everyone’s huddled over his breathless body, hoping he’ll give some sign of what they should do in case he dies.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
A simple lime glaze and whipped ricotta for dolloping make this recipe feel more special than your average snacking cake.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
May I suggest dolloping some onto a margherita to make it uber fancy, or spreading it thinly onto dough and topping it with shaved summer squash and mint?
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2022
Then a makeup artist began dolloping concealers onto the back of her latex glove.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2022
Drizzle the taquitos with Sriracha and sour cream and serve hot, passing guacamole for dolloping and dipping.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2018
I’m dolloping the cream in, and it floats, when a thought hits me: We got to leave a tip for this waiter.
From It’s like this, cat by Emily Neville
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
