dispose

American  

[dih-spohz] / dɪˈspoʊz /

verb (used with object)

• disposes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• disposed,
  past participle,  past
• disposing
  present participle

1. to give a tendency or inclination to; incline.

   His temperament disposed him to argue readily with people.

2. to put in a particular or the proper order or arrangement; adjust by arranging the parts.

3. to put in a particular or suitable place.

   The lamp was disposed on a table nearby.

4. to make fit or ready; prepare.

   Your words of cheer dispose me for the task.

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verb (used without object)

• disposes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• disposed,
  past participle,  past
• disposing
  present participle

1. to arrange or decide matters.

   to do as God disposes.

2. Obsolete. to make terms.

noun

1. Archaic. disposition; habit.

2. Obsolete. arrangement; regulation; disposal.

verb phrase

1. dispose of

   1. to deal with conclusively; settle.

   2. to get rid of; discard.

   3. to transfer or give away, as by gift or sale.

   4. to do away with; destroy.

dispose British  

/ dɪˈspəʊz /

verb

1. 1. to deal with or settle

   2. to give, sell, or transfer to another

   3. to throw out or away

   4. to consume, esp hurriedly

   5. to kill

2. to arrange or settle (matters) by placing into correct or final condition

   man proposes, God disposes

3. (tr) to make willing or receptive

4. (tr) to adjust or place in a certain order or position

5. to accustom or condition

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noun

1. an obsolete word for disposal disposition

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• disposer
  noun
• redispose
  verb (used with object)
• disposingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• disposing
  present
• disposed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dispose
  simple
• disposes
  simple
• have disposed
  perfect
• has disposed
  perfect
• am disposing
  progressive
• are disposing
  progressive
• is disposing
  progressive
• have been disposing
  perfect progressive
• has been disposing
  perfect progressive

Past

• disposed
  simple
• had disposed
  perfect
• was disposing
  progressive
• were disposing
  progressive
• had been disposing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dispose
  simple
• will have disposed
  perfect
• will be disposing
  progressive
• will have been disposing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dispose

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French disposer, equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + poser “to place” ( see pose ¹), on the model of Latin dispōnere

Explanation

If you dispose of something, you get rid of it. Don't want that sweatshirt with the clown's face on it? Give it away, throw it out, even sell it — these are all ways to dispose of that awful shirt. The verb dispose comes from the Latin word disponere, meaning “put in order,” “arrange,” or “distribute" — like when you dispose volunteers to collect trash at a park. The word of usually follows dispose when it means "getting rid of something." Another meaning is "make willing or open to something," like your childhood love of reading that disposes you to becoming a life-long reader.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dispose disposes disposed disposing

Mitchell called for a national strategy to educate people on how to dispose of electrical waste, funded by both the UK and Scottish governments.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Jegede said if the leaves or fruit are too delicate to wash or ash is still visible, it would be best to dispose of the produce.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

“The focus during the results will be the signing of the already announced plans to dispose of the ContiTech division as well as the potential distribution of the proceeds in FY26.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Passing the bill would also start to relieve a logjam of legislation that Congress is seeking to dispose of before its August recess and the November midterm elections.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

The implications that I could so readily dispose of Peeta, that I’m in love with Gale, that the whole thing has been an act.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Along the way, Mr. Pinsker disposes of some stubborn myths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Do they think there is some sort of pickup service that comes along and disposes of their carefully collected excrement?

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

St. Damien has scheduled her first pickup with Ridwell, a subscription service that picks up and disposes of hard-to-recycle trash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2024

Equally important, there’s no way to ignore the spectacularly difficult institutional hurdles of how society manages and disposes of its nuclear waste.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2023

Collectively, the Party owns everything in Oceania, because it controls everything and disposes of the products as it thinks fit.

From "1984" by George Orwell

“For far too long, tow companies have sold or disposed of servicemembers’ vehicles in violation of federal law,” Assistant Atty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

The boy is further said to have disposed of the sword.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Conventional desalination produces liquid brine that must be treated, disposed of, or discharged into the environment.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

With much of Iran’s pre-war leadership dead, Washington is grappling with the possibility that the country’s new leaders may be even less disposed to compromise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

She thought of the dreaded figure of Mr. Alpo, from the Giddy-Yap, Rainbow! tales, who disposed of unwanted ponies by taking them to the slaughterhouse.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Properly collecting and disposing of spent fireworks could help reduce these environmental effects.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026

Merely disposing of the “highly enriched uranium” doesn’t work when enrichment even to the low-seeming 3.67% is already 70% of the way to weapons-grade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

The urgency in disposing of the body was because the whale was now sitting on a popular beach, according to Abildstrøm.

From BBC ● May 31, 2026

It makes much of its money on water that those companies need to use in their operations, and by recycling and disposing of that water.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

When he went back to Proteus, the latter had to think out other ways of disposing of him.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

• adapt
• incline
• predispose
• tempt