dish out
Britishverb
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(tr, adverb) to distribute
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to inflict punishment
he can't take it, but he can sure dish it out
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Deal out, dispense, as in He dishes out advice to one and all . This expression alludes to serving food from a dish. ] Colloquial ; first half of 1600s]
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dish it out . Dispense abuse or punishment, as in He can dish it out with the best of them, but he can't take it . [ Slang ; c. 1930]
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.
History has also taught us that the gods like to dish out nasty surprises every few years: dot-com bubbles, subprime mortgage crises, pandemics, etc.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026
Traffic to fast-food chains began to fall in 2024, prompting McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King and other companies to dish out more deals.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
But they have now added strong away performances to their armoury, with a solid defensive display on Tuesday allowing Jens Petter Hauge and Hakon Evjen to dish out two sucker punches.
From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026
Best mates at Bournemouth, midfielders Ryan Christie and Lewis Cook run the rule over various sporting and social controversies - but will they dish out a booking or brandish a straight red?
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2024
But I’d take whatever those people needed to dish out, because I was going to do the right thing.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
Definitions 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.
