dispose of

Idioms  

1. Attend to, settle, deal with, as in He quickly disposed of the problem . [Early 1600s]

2. Transfer, part with, as by giving away or selling. For example, They wanted to dispose of the land as soon as possible . [Second half of 1600s]

3. Get rid of, throw out, as in Can we dispose of the trash in this barrel? Oliver Goldsmith had this idiom in She Stoops to Conquer (1773): “I'm disposing of the husband before I have secured the lover.” [Mid-1600s]

4. Kill or destroy; also, humorously, consume. For example, The king was determined to dispose of his enemies , or John disposed of the cake in no time . [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

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

It said "bins can often fill up faster than they can be collected" during peak times and pleaded with people to "dispose of waste responsibly".

From BBC • May 31, 2026

It might dispose of him in a minute.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

People who bought the affected product should not eat the product and should dispose of it as soon as possible.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

Somehow Ellsworth had blundered—either through carelessness or a clerical error—and didn’t pay $480 that was owed, and as contractually agreed upon, the company had the right to dispose of the storage room’s contents.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• destroy
• discard
• dump
• eliminate
• get rid of
• relinquish
• scrap
• sell
• unload