dispenser
Americannoun
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dispensers
plural
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a person or thing that dispenses.
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a container, package, device, or vending machine for holding and dispensing something in small amounts, as facial tissue, paper cups, or candy.
noun
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a device, such as a vending machine, that automatically dispenses a single item or a measured quantity
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a person or thing that dispenses
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dispenser
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at dispense, -er 1
Compare meaning
How does dispenser compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
See Examples For:
A French teenager who allegedly licked a straw from an orange juice vending machine before putting it back into its dispenser has been charged with committing mischief and being a public nuisance in Singapore.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
I yanked the top off the body-wash dispenser at one hotel and left it off until I checked out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
It felt like a piece of my childhood died along with the actor who played Dawson Leery, but it wasn’t just a parasocial relationship that had me weeping next to the soap dispenser.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2026
In addition, customers who have a water dispenser on their refrigerator should flush the device or five minutes; make and discard three batches of ice cubes and clean the ice bin with a disinfectant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025
It showed a beagle holding a box of chocolates and said You’re my favorite treat dispenser.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
They also reportedly have dispensers for chaff -- metal shavings that distract radar-guided missiles -- and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
George Washington and other Founding Fathers graced Pez dispensers, coasters and the cover of Mad Magazine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
But every other Mercedes-Benz marque has been wiped, along with the logos of non-FIFA-sponsor Kimberly-Clark that adorn soap dispensers in its bathrooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Children use toy pistols and dispensers to squirt coloured water at their friends.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
The dispensers dangled empty on the wall where the inverted bottles had been wrenched away.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
