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)
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:
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
The main ingredients, she’ll tell you, requiring a dollop of growth, gratitude, of giving and not taking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026
The owner of the house, Mr. Gitney, or as he styled himself, 03-01, had a large head and little hair and a dollop of a nose.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
A seasonal salad and dollops of spiced yogurt round out plates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 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 thing that I love is they put these little dollops of cheese on their pizzas that’s almost like frosting, so you can’t go wrong with any of them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024
It was then decorated in dollops of various colorful sauces, purees and aiolis and then garnished with Brunoised and pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and the like.
From Salon ● May 8, 2024
I breeze into the kitchen and sure enough, there is a tray of chocolate mousse, the whipped cream dollops just on the verge of sagging.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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
Check out his pierogi, four seared half-moons dolloped with sour cream and … I suspect Grandmother never even heard of chili crisp, let alone used it.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2022
This snowy mound dolloped into a very loose, amorphous round with peaks and swirls is baked low and slow until crackled and crisp at the edges.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2022
I dolloped hummus onto a plate alongside some canned grape leaves and ate quietly.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 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
Somewhere between butter and whipped cream, clotted cream is a thick, rich, nearly stretchy form of cream ideal for spreading or dolloping.
From Salon ● Dec. 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 Neville, Emily
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.
