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

See Examples For:

dispose of

Muir outlined that the original herd owner had been given three weeks to sell or dispose of the animals following his conviction.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The 95-year-old said he will dispose of his remaining stock over the next eight years.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 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

And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn’t figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

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