dispense
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dispenses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dispensed,
past participle, past
-
dispensing
present participle
-
to deal out; distribute.
to dispense wisdom.
-
to administer.
to dispense the law without bias.
-
Pharmacology. to make up and distribute (medicine), especially on prescription.
-
Roman Catholic Church. to grant dispensation.
verb (used without object)
-
dispenses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dispensed,
past participle, past
-
dispensing
present participle
noun
verb phrase
verb
-
(tr) to give out or issue in portions
-
(tr) to prepare and distribute (medicine), esp on prescription
-
(tr) to administer (the law, etc)
-
to do away (with) or manage (without)
-
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
-
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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Tears of a Tiger
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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:
One of the FDA’s concerns is that it doesn’t have any information about the containers that would be used by compounding pharmacies to dispense the medication.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
"If we allow this to happen, no judge will be able to dispense justice," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
In February, Monsanto proposed another multi-billion dollar class settlement to dispense with claims that Roundup causes cancer.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Hospitals are also contracting with more pharmacies, which are paid a kickback to dispense medicines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
The next day commenced as before, getting up and dressing by rushlight; but this morning we were obliged to dispense with the ceremony of washing; the water in the pitchers was frozen.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
This streamlined version—co-written with Leonard Mlodinow, a physicist and popular-science author—retains explanations of vital topics, such as the curvature of spacetime and Einstein’s theory of relativity, but dispenses with the drier sections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The NHS pays pharmacies a fixed price for each medicine it dispenses.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 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
Musically mixing East and West dispenses with regulations when crossing borders and becomes an an act of individuality and often resistance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
Without questioning Theo’s authority or checking in again with me, the porter dispenses two tickets, handing Theo the printed billets and moving on to the next passengers.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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
The drug could be dispensed only in person by a qualified physician, which protected women with life-threatening ectopic pregnancies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026
His subjects, he tells us, have dispensed with outmoded theology and instead put ritual to its proper use as a useful technological aid to social connection and cohesion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
The investigation also found that the Ayrshire pharmacy which dispensed the drops did not pick up the manufacturer's recall email until nearly three months after it was issued.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
Mrs. Borkowski dispensed a lot of questionable information.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
Some imagine the ICC to be a judicial superhero, dispensing justice to arch villains around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
This will be more than a typical evening at the Bowl, with dedicated Anderson-branded merchandise and uniformed bicycle riders dispensing candy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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
AI agents were already dispensing advice on stock investments and recommending Amazon.com purchases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Surely Carl had listened to his radio, the lighthouse radioman dispensing advice, the freighter’s navigator calling in positions, taking readings off Lanheedron Island, then suddenly deciding on a bisecting dogleg right through Ship Channel Bank.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
