+ mete out mete out To mete out a punishment means to order that someone should be punished in a certain way. His father meted out punishment with a slipper. A boundary line; a limit. mete out if you mete out a punishment, you give it to someone mete something⇔out to
[ 'mEt ] (transitive verb.) before 12th century. Middle English, from Old English metan; akin to Old High German mezzan to measure, Latin modus measure, Greek medesthai to be mindful of.