discharge

[verb dis-chahrj; noun dis-chahrj, dis-chahrj]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR discharge ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), dis·charged, dis·charg·ing.

to relieve of a charge or load; unload: to discharge a ship.

to remove or send forth: They discharged the cargo at New York.

to fire or shoot (a firearm or missile): to discharge a gun.

to pour forth; emit: to discharge oil; to discharge a stream of invective.

to relieve oneself of (an obligation, burden, etc.).

to relieve of obligation, responsibility, etc.

to fulfill, perform, or execute (a duty, function, etc.).

to relieve or deprive of office, employment, etc.; dismiss from service.

to release, send away, or allow to go (often followed by from): The children were discharged early from school. They discharged him from prison.

to pay (a debt).

Law.

to release (a defendant, especially one under confinement).
to release (a bankrupt) from former debts.
to cancel (a contract).
to release (bail).

(in a legislative body) to order (a committee) to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.

Electricity. to rid (a battery, capacitor, etc.) of a charge of electricity.

Dyeing. to free from a dye, as by chemical bleaching.

verb (used without object), dis·charged, dis·charg·ing.

to get rid of a burden or load.

to deliver a charge or load.

to pour forth.

to go off or fire, as a firearm or missile.

to blur or run, as a color or dye.

Electricity. to lose or give up a charge of electricity.

noun

the act of discharging a ship, load, etc.

the act of firing a weapon, as an arrow by drawing and releasing the string of the bow, or a gun by exploding the charge of powder.

a sending or coming forth, as of water from a pipe; ejection; emission.

the rate or amount of such issue.

something sent forth or emitted.

a relieving, ridding, or getting rid of something of the nature of a charge.

Law.

an acquittal or exoneration.
an annulment, as of a court order.
the freeing of one held under legal process.

a relieving or being relieved of obligation or liability; fulfillment of an obligation.

the payment of a debt.

a release or dismissal, as from prison, an office, or employment.

a certificate of such a release or a certificate of release from obligation or liability.

the act or process of ordering a legislative committee to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.

Military.

the separation of a person from military service.
a certificate of such separation.

Electricity.

the removal or transference of an electric charge, as by the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy.
the equalization of a difference of potential, as between two terminals.

Origin of discharge

1300–50; Middle English deschargen < Anglo-French descharger, Old French < Late Latin discarricāre, equivalent to dis- dis-¹ + carricāre to load; see charge

Related formsdis·charge·a·ble, adjectivedis·charg·er, nounnon·dis·charg·ing, adjective, nounpre·dis·charge, nounpre·dis·charge, verb (used with object), pre·dis·charged, pre·dis·charg·ing.re·dis·charge, verb, re·dis·charged, re·dis·charg·ing.un·dis·charge·a·ble, adjectiveun·dis·charged, adjective

Synonym study

6. See release. 7. See perform.

Synonyms for discharge

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR discharge ON THESAURUS.COM

1. unburden, disburden. 4. expel, eject, exude. 8. cashier, fire, remove. 9. dismiss, expel. 10. settle, liquidate. 22. detonation, shooting. 28. execution, performance.

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

Related Words for discharged

released, fired, freed, sacked, laid-off, accomplished, canned, replaced, ousted, axed, expelled, done, performed

Examples from the Web for discharged

Contemporary Examples of discharged

It was the very day her father, Solomon, was discharged from the ETU.
The Life of a Liberian Child with Ebola
Sarah Crowe
November 5, 2014
Just last week, it was reported that the 44-year-old Hunter was discharged from the Navy after testing positive for cocaine.
Where There’s Trouble, You’ll Usually Find Joe Biden
Lloyd Green
October 21, 2014
The motorcyclist has since been discharged from hospital, while the taxi driver is in a 'stable' condition, the Mail reports.
Prince Harry's High Speed Crash Drama Prompts Terror Alert
Tom Sykes
September 11, 2014
She is discharged from the hospital and dies three months later in her sleep.
Real Life Lazarus: When Patients Rise From the Dead
Sandeep Jauhar
August 21, 2014
She got better with each passing day and was discharged from the hospital after three weeks, herself a survivor.
Infected Ebola Doctor Kent Brantly Is an Endangered Hero
Michael Daly
August 3, 2014

Historical Examples of discharged

If I am discharged I think I can manage to pick up a living somehow.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
But he may prejudice his father against you, and get you discharged.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
Next day, the discharged man and the second mate were pressed.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Captain Johnston had the matter explained, and he discharged the mate.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
On these grounds he was discharged, and the judge took the umbrella.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870
Various

British Dictionary definitions for discharged

discharge

verb (dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ)

(tr) to release or allow to gothe hospital discharged the patient

(tr) to dismiss from or relieve of duty, office, employment, etc

to fire or be fired, as a gun

to pour forth or cause to pour forththe boil discharges pus

(tr) to remove (the cargo) from (a boat, etc); unload

(tr) to perform (the duties of) or meet (the demands of an office, obligation, etc)he discharged his responsibilities as mayor

(tr) to relieve oneself of (a responsibility, debt, etc)

(intr) physics

to lose or remove electric charge
to form an arc, spark, or corona in a gas
to take or supply electrical current from a cell or battery

(tr) law to release (a prisoner from custody, etc)

(tr) to remove dye from (a fabric), as by bleaching

(intr) (of a dye or colour) to blur or run

(tr) architect

to spread (weight) evenly over a supporting member
to relieve a member of (excess weight) by distribution of pressure

noun (ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ, dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ)

a person or thing that is discharged

dismissal or release from an office, job, institution, etc
the document certifying such release

the fulfilment of an obligation or release from a responsibility or liabilityhonourable discharge

the act of removing a load, as of cargo

a pouring forth of a fluid; emission

the act of firing a projectile
the volley, bullet, missile, etc, fired

law

a release, as of a person held under legal restraint
an annulment, as of a court order

physics

the act or process of removing or losing charge or of equalizing a potential difference
a transient or continuous conduction of electricity through a gas by the formation and movement of electrons and ions in an applied electric field

the volume of fluid flowing along a pipe or a channel in unit time
the output rate of a plant or piece of machinery, such as a pump

Derived Formsdischargeable, adjectivedischarger, noun

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 discharged

discharge

early 14c., "to exempt, exonerate, release," from Old French deschargier (12c., Modern French décharger) "to unload, discharge," from Late Latin discarricare, from dis- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + carricare "load" (see charge (v.)).

Meaning "to unload, to free from" is late 14c. Of weapons, from 1550s. The electrical sense is first attested 1748. Meaning "to fulfill, to perform one's duties" is from c.1400. Related: Discharged; discharging.