Definitions for: Discharge


[n] the act of discharging a gun
[n] a formal written statement of relinquishment
[n] the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
[n] the act of venting
[n] the sudden giving off of energy
[n] the pouring forth of a fluid
[n] electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field
[n] any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body; "the discharge of pus"
[n] a substance that is emitted or released
[v] eliminate, as of bodily substances
[v] become empty or void of its content; "The room emptied"
[v] pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; "The suspect was cleared of the murder charges"
[v] release from military service
[v] cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet"
[v] go off or discharge; "The gun fired"
[v] pour forth or release; esp. of liquids
[v] remove the charge from
[v] leave or unload, esp. of passengers or cargo;
[v] free from obligations or duties
[v] complete or carry out; "discharge one's duties"



Webster (1913) Definition: Dis*charge", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discharged; p.
pr. & vb. n. Discharging.] [OE. deschargen, dischargen, OF.
deschargier, F. d['e]charger; pref. des- (L. dis) + chargier,
F. charger. See Charge.]
1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a
load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a
vessel.

2. To free of the missile with which anything is charged or
loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow,
catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire
off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of
tension, as a Leyden jar.

The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows,
discharge their great pieces against the city.
--Knolles.

Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect
muscular actions. --H. Spencer.

3. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a
debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.;
to absolve; to acquit; to clear.

Discharged of business, void of strife. --Dryden.

In one man's fault discharge another man of his
duty. --L'Estrange.

4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from
service; to dismiss.

Discharge the common sort With pay and thanks.
--Shak.

Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his
see. --Milton.

5. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty;
as, to discharge a prisoner.

6. To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take
out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as,
to discharge a cargo.

7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.

They do discharge their shot of courtesy. --Shak.

8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.

We say such an order was ``discharged on appeal.''
--Mozley & W.

The order for Daly's attendance was discharged.
--Macaulay.

9. To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt; to
relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions,
performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or
execute, as an office, or part.

Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large As could
their hundred offices discharge. --Dryden.

10. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay
one's debt or obligation to. [Obs.]

If he had The present money to discharge the Jew.
--Shak.

11. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges
water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as,
to discharge a horrible oath.

12. To prohibit; to forbid. [Scot. Obs.] --Sir W. Scott.

Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, or
other opening, to distribute the pressure of the wall
above. See Illust. of Lintel.

Discharging piece, Discharging strut (Arch.), a piece set
to carry thrust or weight to a solid point of support.

Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both
ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for
discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery. See
Discharger.

Syn: See Deliver.


Dis*charge", v. i.
To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload;
to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the
water pipe discharges freely.

The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not
discharge. --Bacon.


Dis*charge", n. [Cf. F. d['e]charge. See
Discharge, v. t.]
1. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge
or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the
discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo.

2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion;
letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.

3. Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs
upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation,
etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor.

4. Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation,
liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt,
or the performance of a trust or duty.

Indefatigable in the discharge of business.
--Motley.

Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those
duties. --L'Estrange.

5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.;
dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his
employer.

6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the
discharge of a prisoner.

7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt,
obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.

Too secure of our discharge From penalty. --Milton.

8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation,
liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal
document.

Death, who sets all free, Hath paid his ransom now
and full discharge. --Milton.

9. A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation;
also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid
discharge of water from the pipe.

The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is
a thin serous discharge. --S. Sharp.



Charge and discharge. (Equity Practice) See under Charge,
n.

Paralytic discharge (Physiol.), the increased secretion
from a gland resulting from the cutting of all of its
nerves.


Dis*charge", v. t. (Textile Dyeing & Printing)
To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical
process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric in
order to form light figures on a dark ground.


Dis*charge", n. (Elec.)
The equalization of a difference of electric potential
between two points. The character of the discharge is mostly
determined by the nature of the medium through which it takes
place, the amount of the difference of potential, and the
form of the terminal conductors on which the difference
exists. The discharge may be alternating, continuous, brush,
connective, disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc.

Synonyms: acquit, arc, assoil, clear, complete, dismissal, dismission, dispatch, drop, eject, electric arc, electric discharge, emission, emission, empty, exculpate, exonerate, expel, expelling, fire, firing, firing off, free, liberation, muster out, outpouring, put down, release, release, run, sack, sacking, set down, spark, unload, venting, waiver

Antonyms: charge, convict, draft, enlist, fill, fill up, muster in

See Also: abort, activity, air-drop, bleed, blow, bodily function, bodily process, body process, breathe, brush discharge, cannon, carry, cashier, catamenia, change state, clear, conclusion, conge, corona, corona discharge, corposant, cough out, cough up, cut, deactivate, deactivation, deliver, demob, demobilise, demobilize, detonation, discharge, disembroil, disentangle, dishonorable discharge, disinvolve, disperse, distribute, divest, dot, drain, dust, effluvium, egest, ejaculate, ejaculation, eject, electric glow, electrical conduction, electrical discharge, eliminate, elimination, emanation, emission, emit, ending, eruct, eruption, escape, evacuation, excrete, excreting, excretion, execute, exemption, expectorate, explode, explosion, exudate, exudation, fester, flashover, flow, flow, flow away, flow off, flowing, force out, fusillade, go off, granting immunity, gun, happening, hemorrhage, immunity, inactivate, inactivation, jet, judge, label, leak, leakage, let drive, let fly, let go, let go of, liberate, loose off, material, maturate, menses, menstruation, natural event, occurrence, outflow, ovulate, pass, pass off, period, play, pop, pronounce, purge, release, relieve, relinquish, relinquishing, relinquishment, removal, remove, Saint Elmo's fire, Saint Elmo's light, Saint Ulmo's fire, Saint Ulmo's light, scatter, Section Eight, set free, shed blood, shoot, shooting, shot, spew, spew out, spirt, spit out, spit up, spread, sprinkle, spurt, squeeze out, squirt, squirt, St. Elmo's fire, stuff, superannuation, suppurate, take, take away, take over, termination, transudate, transudation, turn, vaginal discharge, vindicate, voiding, volcanic eruption, volley, wharf, whitewash, withdraw

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