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:
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
"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
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
Let’s hope Judge Chuang dispenses with the Justice Department’s unjust prison demand and issues a suspended sentence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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
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
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
When leading experts tried to offer their own chatbot to help those at risk, it dispensed problematic advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh dispensed with subtlety altogether.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
Somewhere in there was a lady who dispensed a Death Mist that might hide them from monsters—a plan recommended by a Titan, one of their bitterest enemies.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Long before Oz entered politics, for example, he’d been discredited for dispensing a vast array of scientifically unsound medical advice on “The Dr. Oz Show,” which Winfrey’s Harpo Productions co-produced.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
In a five-star review, the Guardian's Lucy Mangan, external said Lawson "moves through Bake Off dispensing words of wisdom, generous praise and gentle criticism".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Warsh, who has proposed fewer annual Fed meetings and dispensing with regular news conferences entirely, flew through the queries lobbed by reporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
At a centre called "Sniffspace", dogs test human samples on platforms equipped with automatic feeders dispensing dog treats.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
I ain't sure that I can trust her, but there ain’t been much kindness since I got to Summerland, and I’ve yet to see the Duchess on the dispensing end of any cruelty.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
