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.
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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)
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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
-
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:
The questions: What will it take for AI to dispense reliable medical counsel?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
One of the FDA’s concerns is that the agency doesn’t have any information about the containers that would be used by compounding pharmacies to dispense the medication.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
After leaving Westminster, Burnham similarly began to dispense with ties and jackets.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 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
He would dispense with love; it was not now a factor.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
Unfazed, the pickle serenely dispenses its koan-like musings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
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
Impersonating St. Nick, Taylor dispenses amusingly practical advice to children telling her what they want for Christmas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
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
There are several collections of wise sayings which not only do not reflect heroism at all, but give a view of life which dispenses with it.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Saum Poorsaleh, San Diego police public information officer, said his department had issued more than 50 citations at Sunset Cliffs and dispensed about 350 warnings, written and oral, since mid-June.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Its same-store sales growth of prepared food and dispensed beverages has exceeded those of Domino’s U.S. in 18 out of the last 20 quarters, according to data from Wells Fargo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh dispensed with subtlety altogether.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 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
She had gone to see Herbalist, the man who dispensed medicines to villagers.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
At a centre called "Sniffspace", dogs test human samples on platforms equipped with automatic feeders dispensing dog treats.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
By now, Russell was in the lead, having wasted little time dispensing with Gasly.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 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
The disparity was stark for ectopic pregnancy: The data indicate that the inappropriate provision of mifepristone to a woman with an ectopic pregnancy was between three and six times more likely with remote dispensing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 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.
