dispense
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to deal out; distribute.
to dispense wisdom.
-
to administer.
to dispense the law without bias.
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Pharmacology. to make up and distribute (medicine), especially on prescription.
-
Roman Catholic Church. to grant dispensation.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb phrase
verb
-
(tr) to give out or issue in portions
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(tr) to prepare and distribute (medicine), esp on prescription
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(tr) to administer (the law, etc)
-
to do away (with) or manage (without)
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to grant a dispensation to (someone) from (some obligation of church law)
-
to exempt or excuse from a rule or obligation
Usage
Dispense with is sometimes wrongly used where dispose of is meant: this task can be disposed of (not dispensed with ) quickly and easily
Synonym Usage
See distribute.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dispensesimple
-
dispensessimple
-
have dispensedperfect
-
has dispensedperfect
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am dispensingprogressive
-
are dispensingprogressive
-
is dispensingprogressive
-
have been dispensingperfect progressive
-
has been dispensingperfect progressive
Past
-
dispensedsimple
-
had dispensedperfect
-
was dispensingprogressive
-
were dispensingprogressive
-
had been dispensingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dispense
1275–1325; Middle English dispensen < Medieval Latin dispēnsāre to pardon, exempt, Latin: to pay out, distribute, equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + pēnsāre, frequentative of pendere to weigh
Explanation
To dispense means to give out or distribute something. A school nurse can dispense students' medication and we all can dispense advice. The word dispense comes from the Old French word dispenser, meaning "give out." You can dispense anything from hand sanitizer to dating advice. When dispense is paired with with it means "get rid of it" or "skip." If you dispense with traditional Thanksgiving dishes, you might instead celebrate with pizza, pancakes, tacos — anything but turkey and all the fixings.
Vocabulary lists containing dispense
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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:
In February, Monsanto proposed another multi-billion dollar class settlement to dispense with claims that Roundup causes cancer.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Greenspan used his clout to dispense advice on all manner of domestic policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
And he wouldn't argue with the fact that it is far easier to console and dispense advice to virtual children - and yet he finds some comfort in the trend.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
When medication management cannot be handled with simple pill organizers, high-tech devices are available that dispense medications at preprogrammed times and alert caregivers or family members when a dose is missed.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
Holmes later said of Pitezel, “he was too valuable a man, even with his failings taken into consideration, for me to dispense with.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Azerbaijan's singer Jiva is much more ruthless as she dispenses with a lover on the cinematic ballad Just Go.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Days before the official opening, the international jury who dispenses prizes resigned en masse, forcing organizers to reconfigure its Golden Lion prize from one decided by a jury to one decided by the public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
She also conducts research for patients—from cancer treatment to skin care—and dispenses advice that other doctors might not; a patient recently texted to ask if the foundation makeup she was considering was “clean beauty.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
Desperation and fear bleed through everything he dispenses.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
“Your friend dispenses good advice,” the old beggar chimed in.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
So-called small molecules, which are typically pills dispensed by pharmacies, have generics that are much cheaper in the U.S. than abroad because of the intense price competition that patent expiration unleashes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
As the show’s host, Queen Latifah dispensed uplifting thoughts about American idealism throughout the evening but also got a slot of her own to do her classic “U.N.I.T.Y.” with help from a rambunctious drum line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Taylor also dispensed with tradition by not having any bridesmaids, while Travis similarly did not have groomsmen, her spokeswoman said.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Authorities said Mareik and her co-conspirators billed California’s Medi-Cal program tens of millions of dollars a month for medically unnecessary, high-reimbursement generic drugs that were dispensed outside the program’s contracted pharmacy network.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
“I have, however, dispensed with the cookie that once came with it.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
On YouTube, the “ETF-explaining Bro” channel is among an emerging group of “finfluencers” dispensing market advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Warsh hinted at a blizzard of changes ahead, but the biggest arguably may be dispensing with consideration of the markets’ reaction to the Fed’s words.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Food and Drug Administration is conducting its own review of the abortion pills and its regulations for dispensing medication.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
In 2021 the FDA eliminated the requirement for in-person dispensing entirely, a temporary Covid move that was made permanent in 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
In the law courts the judges were dispensing the King’s new law, instead of file fierce law of Fort Mayne.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
