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.
“The right to assistance of counsel and the correlative right to dispense with a lawyer’s help are not legal formalisms,” the court added.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
It also meant they could dispense with the services of a book keeper, saving over £6000 a year.
From BBC • Jan. 8, 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
It turned out that Queen Neferbeth felt so strongly about “cutting holes in Petey,” even if he was dead, that it was decided to dispense with that part of the procedure.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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.
