dispense with

Idioms  

1. 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]

2. Get rid of, do away with, as in The European Union is trying to dispense with tariff barriers . [Late 1500s]

3. 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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dispense with

As the United States Supreme Court explained in 1942, the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel implicitly embodies a “correlative right to dispense with a lawyer’s help.”

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 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

Customers are increasingly being lured by brands like TimberTech, which dispense with wood altogether in favor of polyvinyl chloride patterned to resemble mahogany, teak, or hickory.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 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

In addition, Khoi herders west of the Fish River of South Africa traded with Bantu farmers east of the Fish River, and continued to dispense with farming themselves.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• abolish
• dispose of
• disregard
• do without
• forgo
• get rid of
• ignore
• relinquish
• waive