mete out
phrasal verb
meted out; meting out; metes out
: to give (something) to the people who one decides should get it : to give out or distribute (something)
We're trying to be fair in meting out rewards and punishments.
—usually used to refer to something unpleasant (such as punishment)Huge fines were meted out as punishment.
The king meted out justice as he saw fit.
Examples of mete out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And also as a country, there’s just a lot of aggression and anger and stress, and it’s been meted out to the medical professionals.
—
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
Players choose from several idiosyncratic character classes such as vigilantes who mete out justice with magic weapons or wizards that have access to a strange maze of interdimensional subway tunnels.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
Meyers observes that the spirit of nationalism in India was strong during this period owing to the harsh treatment meted out to Indians by their British subjugators.
—Noor Anand Chawla, JSTOR Daily, 19 Feb. 2025
Johnson said afterward that Green should be censured by the House — among the more severe reprimands his colleagues could mete out.
—Lisa Mascaro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mete out
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Lynette Rice, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
Players choose from several idiosyncratic character classes such as vigilantes who mete out justice with magic weapons or wizards that have access to a strange maze of interdimensional subway tunnels.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
Meyers observes that the spirit of nationalism in India was strong during this period owing to the harsh treatment meted out to Indians by their British subjugators.
—Noor Anand Chawla, JSTOR Daily, 19 Feb. 2025
Johnson said afterward that Green should be censured by the House — among the more severe reprimands his colleagues could mete out.
—Lisa Mascaro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mete out
Cite this Entry
“Mete out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mete%20out. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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