dispense
to deal out; distribute: to dispense wisdom.
to administer: to dispense the law without bias.
Pharmacology. to make up and distribute (medicine), especially on prescription.
Roman Catholic Church. to grant dispensation.
to grant dispensation.
Obsolete. expenditure.
dispense with,
to do without; forgo: to dispense with preliminaries.
to do away with; rid of.
to grant exemption from a law or promise.
Origin of dispense
1synonym study For dispense
Other words for dispense
Other words from dispense
- un·dis·pensed, adjective
Words Nearby dispense
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dispense in a sentence
But he was always uncommonly gracious, a truly gentle man, willing to dispense wisdom and perspective when asked.
Ed Brooke: The Senate's Civil Rights Pioneer and Prophet of a Post-Racial America | John Avlon | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe question is not whether they are right or wrong but why they feel an impulse to dispense their advice in the first place.
Instead of the eight flavors a typical fountain could dispense, they might want 15 or 20.
Let's hope they dispense with the slow courtship and start to dance.
As nice as it would have been to dispense with the fairy tale tropes altogether, they are necessary here.
Disney’s Sublimely Subversive ‘Frozen’ Isn’t Your Typical Princess Movie | Melissa Leon | November 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
With his pipe he would not dispense, and he always took two or three puffs, at least, before undertaking anything.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.Divinely precious and infinitely perfect as it is, there is no part of it with which he can dispense.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamShe belonged to that ultra-modern school which scorns to sue masculine admiration, but which cannot dispense with it nevertheless.
Dope | Sax RohmerThere were very few days during our entire summer's tour when one could dispense with cloaks and overcoats.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car | Thomas D. MurphyAt no time in the summer were we able to dispense for any length of time with heavy wraps and robes while on the road.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car | Thomas D. Murphy
British Dictionary definitions for dispense
/ (dɪˈspɛns) /
(tr) to give out or issue in portions
(tr) to prepare and distribute (medicine), esp on prescription
(tr) to administer (the law, etc)
(intr foll by with) to do away (with) or manage (without)
to grant a dispensation to (someone) from (some obligation of church law)
to exempt or excuse from a rule or obligation
Origin of dispense
1usage For dispense
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
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