dispense with
Idioms-
Manage without, forgo, as in We can dispense with the extra help . Shakespeare had this idiom in Timon of Athens (3:2): “Men must learn now with pity to dispense.” [c. 1600]
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Get rid of, do away with, as in The European Union is trying to dispense with tariff barriers . [Late 1500s]
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Exempt one from a law, promise, or obligation, as in He asked the court to dispense with swearing on the Bible . This usage originally applied to religious obligations (to which the Pope granted dispensation ). [Early 1500s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In February, Monsanto proposed another multi-billion dollar class settlement to dispense with claims that Roundup causes cancer.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Su was able to dispense with Intel as a competitor because Intel had “self-inflicted wounds,” said Daniel Newman, CEO of research and advisory firm Futurum Group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
In December 1927, it cautioned young women "to become a good cook before you marry, darling. Then you will be competent to rebuke a staff of domestics or to dispense with one".
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2025
Well beyond their years, the kids expressed a suffering that doesn’t dispense with beauty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
A deal of people, Miss, are for trusting all to Providence; but I say Providence will not dispense with the means, though He often blesses them when they are used discreetly.”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
