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:
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
University commencement speeches used to send graduates into the world with a boost of optimism and a dollop of advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 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
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
He added a generous dollop of sour cherry jam to his glass, but I was inclined to drink mine unflavored, with only a cube of sugar to sweeten it.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
A seasonal salad and dollops of spiced yogurt round out plates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Little dots, dollops, or simple lines create rustic visual interest and, more importantly, flavor.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 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
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
Its walls still stood, but its windows and roof were gone, and there was nothing inside but ashes and dollops of melted glass.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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
A hint: It’s dense, fragrant and dolloped with butter, clotted cream and fresh jam.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
Served dolloped into ice cream scoop-sized servings, it dared you to define your own relationship with it.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2022
Going a step further, combining raspberry powder and bittersweet chocolate makes a complex-tasting, fuchsia-streaked meringue that’s an absolute knockout dolloped on a raspberry tart.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 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
Then a makeup artist began dolloping concealers onto the back of her latex glove.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 21, 2022
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.
