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
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
At home, I keep it rustic and dollop generous mounds of meringue onto lined baking trays, then use the back of a teaspoon to shape them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
That makes diversification, through international stocks and bonds, especially in emerging markets—and a dollop of gold as a buffer—good options for the years ahead.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
They look at her hands and know what she will do with biscuit dough; they smell the coffee and the fried ham; see the white, smoky grits with a dollop of butter on top.
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
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
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 end up, unintentionally, at another hotel for dinner, where the bartender explains to me that the red, green and white dollops on the flatbread represent the Lebanese flag.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
Mama passes around dollops of mint chutney to put on top.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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
State dinners with our oldest ally have always featured sweet bonhomie dolloped with prickliness.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022
This fluffy topping is dolloped and spread across the top of the cheesecake and then chilled.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 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
And in one of the most unlikely juxtapositions, they’re dolloping it on Doritos, the junk food famous for leaving a telltale dusting of neon-orange powder on a binger’s fingers.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 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
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
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.
