dole out

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dole out (third-person singular simple present doles out, present participle doling out, simple past and past participle doled out)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To distribute in apportioned amounts.
   • 2009 January 25, Frank Rich, “No Time for Poetry”, in New York Times‎:

     Only then did we learn that he doled out billions in secret, last-minute bonuses to his staff last month, just before Bank of America took over and just before the government ponied up a second bailout to cover Merrill’s unexpected $15 billion fourth-quarter loss.

   • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     The animators, writers and Gilbert do a fantastic job of making Laura an eminently crush-worthy figure of adolescent yearning but the episode doles out scenes of her and Bart together sparingly.

• (distribute in small portions): dish out, mete out