1. Plural of obol; small coins of ancient Greece, each worth one-sixth of a drachma.
Usage: historical; numismatics
2. Small amounts of money or payment; a modest contribution or offering.
Usage: archaic; literary

Examples

• Ancient Greek merchants exchanged oboles for everyday goods in the marketplace.
• The widow's oboles were all she could afford to give to the temple.
• Archaeologists discovered a cache of oboles buried beneath the ruins.
• He contributed his oboles to the community fund, though the sum was small.
• The ferryman demanded oboles as payment for passage across the river.