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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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:
It went on to encourage its members not to knowingly dispense medicines that would be misused - and report any side affects to the health authorities of those that had been.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
A few weeks ago, shares of Schwab and other financial-services firms tumbled after Muse’s launch triggered anxieties that agents might someday dispense advice or be deployed to sort customer’s cash, funneling dollars into higher-yielding accounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
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
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
Perhaps due to a paucity of sources, Mr. Mancall dispenses quickly with events before 1450, depriving readers of a deep look at indigenous life before the arrival of Europeans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 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
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
But the machine in the corridor dispenses only coffee, tepid at best, in paper cups.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Actors’ health insurance plans are typically managed by performing arts unions rather than dispensed by a single corporate employer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
People in her village, Bakau Serip, were now depending on tanker trucks that dispensed "dirty, cloudy and smelly" water, she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Outside Estella, where the path passed a fountain that dispensed wine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 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
The most inventive solution to these questions was the simplest: it dispensed of code altogether.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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
Matthews said until the Blythe prison site’s infrastructure is separated from neighboring Ironwood State Prison and its bond obligations are resolved, the property can’t move through the state’s process for dispensing with surplus property.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 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
The thought of little Cassiopeia in a white wig and judge’s robes, dispensing justice with the fair, firm confidence of a true Swanburne girl, made Penelope grin from ear to ear.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
