mete

[ meet ]

/ mit /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mete ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), met·ed, met·ing.

to distribute or apportion by measure; allot; dole (usually followed by out): to mete out punishment.

Archaic. to measure.

Nearby words

Origin of mete

before 900; Middle English; Old English metan; cognate with Dutch meten, Old Norse meta, Gothic mitan, German messen to measure, Greek mḗdesthai to ponder

SYNONYMS FOR mete

1. deal, measure, parcel.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mete ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·met·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for meted

The unfortunate reality is that race, gender, and economic status do matter when justice is meted out.
The Post-Brown and Garner Question: Who ‘Deserves’ to Die?|Goldie Taylor|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is not a scarce commodity to be meted out begrudgingly or in short portions.
The Heroic Lesbian Couple of Oklahoma Who Fought for Equal Marriage—and Won|Randy R. Potts|October 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Draconian punishments were meted out to supposed sinners and traitors.
Saddam’s Former Deputy, the Red Skull of Baghdad, Still at Large in Iraq and Allied With ISIS|Jacob Siegel, Christopher Dickey|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the last line of defense, the goalkeeper is also first in the firing line when blame and retribution are meted out.
Can England Forgive Robert Green?|Alex Massie|June 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST

First, however, I should like to ask you what punishment you think should be meted out to the boys who are guilty?
Harry Watson's High School Days|Frank V. Webster
The same fate has been meted out to that other venerable test of sex, the position of the air-bag at the blunt end of the shell.
Sheep, Swine, and Poultry|Robert Jennings
Even when she meted out punishment to her, Nancy knew that the punishment was just.
A Little Miss Nobody|Amy Bell Marlowe
But Rhode Island was not a place where so severe a punishment could be meted out to such an offence.
A short history of Rhode Island|George Washington Greene
But if stern justice is to be meted to us all, after your merciless fashion, then Heaven help us!
Norine's Revenge; Sir Noel's Heir|May Agnes Fleming

British Dictionary definitions for meted

mete

/ (miːt) /

verb (tr)

(usually foll by out) formal to distribute or allot (something, often unpleasant)

verb, noun

poetic, dialect (to) measure

Word Origin for mete

Old English metan; compare Old Saxon metan, Old Norse meta, German messen to measure

mete

/ (miːt) /

noun

rare a mark, limit, or boundary (esp in the phrase metes and bounds)

Word Origin for mete

C15: from Old French, from Latin mēta goal, turning post (in race)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for meted

mete

"to allot," Old English metan "to measure, mete out; compare, estimate" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, past participle meten), from Proto-Germanic *metanan (cf. Old Saxon metan, Old Frisian, Old Norse meta, Dutch meten, Old High German mezzan, German messen, Gothic mitan "to measure"), from PIE *med- "to take appropriate measures" (see medical). Used now only with out. Related: Meted; meting.

mete

"boundary," now only in phrase metes and bounds, late 15c., from Old French mete "limit, bounds, frontier," from Latin meta "goal, boundary, post, pillar."

mete

verb (used with object), met·ed, met·ing.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of mete

Examples from the Web for meted

mete

verb (tr)

verb, noun

Word Origin for mete

mete

noun

Word Origin for mete

mete

mete