discharge

[ verb dis-chahrj; noun dis-chahrj, dis-chahrj ]

verb (used with object)

, dis·charged, dis·charg·ing.

1. to relieve of a charge or load; unload:

   to discharge a ship.

   Synonyms: disburden, unburden

2. to remove or send forth:

   They discharged the cargo at New York.

3. to fire or shoot (a firearm or missile):

   to discharge a gun.

4. to pour forth; emit:

   to discharge oil;

   to discharge a stream of invective.

   Synonyms: exude, eject, expel

5. to relieve oneself of (an obligation, burden, etc.).
6. to relieve of obligation, responsibility, etc.
7. to fulfill, perform, or execute (a duty, function, etc.).
8. to relieve or deprive of office, employment, etc.; dismiss from service.

   Synonyms: remove, fire, cashier

9. to release, send away, or allow to go (often followed by from ):

   The children were discharged early from school. They discharged him from prison.

   Synonyms: free, dismiss

10. to pay (a debt).

    Synonyms: liquidate, settle

11. Law.
    1. to release (a defendant, especially one under confinement).
    2. to release (a person declared bankrupt) from former debts.
    3. to cancel (a contract, debt, or other obligation).
    4. to release (bail) back to the one who posted it.
12. (in a legislative body) to order (a committee) to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.
13. Electricity. to rid (a battery, capacitor, etc.) of a charge of electricity.
14. Dyeing. to free from a dye, as by chemical bleaching.

verb (used without object)

, dis·charged, dis·charg·ing.

1. to get rid of a burden or load.
2. to deliver a charge or load.
3. to pour forth.
4. to go off or fire, as a firearm or missile.
5. to blur or run, as a color or dye.
6. Electricity. to lose or give up a charge of electricity.

noun

1. the act of discharging a ship, load, etc.
2. the act of firing a weapon, as an arrow by drawing and releasing the string of the bow, or a gun by exploding the charge of powder.

   Synonyms: detonation

3. a sending or coming forth, as of water from a pipe; ejection; emission.
4. the rate or amount of such issue.
5. something sent forth or emitted.
6. a relieving, ridding, or getting rid of something of the nature of a charge.
7. Law.
   1. an acquittal or exoneration.
   2. an annulment, as of a court order.
   3. the freeing of one held under legal process.
8. a relieving or being relieved of obligation or liability; fulfillment of an obligation.

   Synonyms: performance, execution

9. the payment of a debt.
10. a release or dismissal, as from prison, an office, or employment.
11. a certificate of such a release or a certificate of release from obligation or liability.
12. the act or process of ordering a legislative committee to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.
13. Military.
    1. the separation of a person from military service.
    2. a certificate of such separation.
14. Electricity.
    1. the removal or transference of an electric charge, as by the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy.
    2. the equalization of a difference of potential, as between two terminals.

discharge

verb

1. tr to release or allow to go

   the hospital discharged the patient

2. tr to dismiss from or relieve of duty, office, employment, etc
3. to fire or be fired, as a gun
4. to pour forth or cause to pour forth

   the boil discharges pus

5. tr to remove (the cargo) from (a boat, etc); unload
6. tr to perform (the duties of) or meet (the demands of an office, obligation, etc)

   he discharged his responsibilities as mayor

7. tr to relieve oneself of (a responsibility, debt, etc)
8. intr physics
   1. to lose or remove electric charge
   2. to form an arc, spark, or corona in a gas
   3. to take or supply electrical current from a cell or battery
9. tr law to release (a prisoner from custody, etc)
10. tr to remove dye from (a fabric), as by bleaching
11. intr (of a dye or colour) to blur or run
12. tr architect
    1. to spread (weight) evenly over a supporting member
    2. to relieve a member of (excess weight) by distribution of pressure

noun

1. a person or thing that is discharged
2. 1. dismissal or release from an office, job, institution, etc
   2. the document certifying such release
3. the fulfilment of an obligation or release from a responsibility or liability

   honourable discharge

4. the act of removing a load, as of cargo
5. a pouring forth of a fluid; emission
6. 1. the act of firing a projectile
   2. the volley, bullet, missile, etc, fired
7. law
   1. a release, as of a person held under legal restraint
   2. an annulment, as of a court order
8. physics
   1. the act or process of removing or losing charge or of equalizing a potential difference
   2. a transient or continuous conduction of electricity through a gas by the formation and movement of electrons and ions in an applied electric field
9. 1. the volume of fluid flowing along a pipe or a channel in unit time
   2. the output rate of a plant or piece of machinery, such as a pump

discharge

/ dĭs-chärj′ /

Noun

1. The conversion of chemical energy to electric energy within a storage battery.
2. A flow of electricity in a dielectric, especially in a rarefied gas.
3. A flowing out or pouring forth, as of a bodily fluid; emission or secretion.
4. A substance or material that is released, emitted, or excreted, especially from the body.

Verb

1. To undergo or cause the release of stored energy or electric charge, as from a battery or capacitor.
2. To release, emit, or excrete a substance, especially from the body.

Derived Forms

• disˈchargeable, adjective
• disˈcharger, noun

Other Words From

• dis·charge·a·ble adjective
• dis·charg·er noun
• non·dis·charg·ing adjective noun
• pre·dis·charge noun
• pre·dis·charge verb (used with object) predischarged predischarging
• re·dis·charge verb redischarged redischarging
• un·dis·charge·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of discharge¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English deschargen, from Anglo-French descharger, Old French, from Late Latin discarricāre, equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + carricāre “to load”; charge

Synonym Study

See release. See perform.

Example Sentences

The spark that generated the blue jet may have been a special kind of short-range electric discharge inside the thundercloud, Neubert says.

From Science News

And, in addition, in Wisconsin, we were able to link those data up to hospital admissions and discharge data so we got really detailed information about the kinds of injuries and the length of stays in hospitals and whatnot.

From Freakonomics

Oscillating air discharge helps distribute cool air evenly throughout the space.

From Popular-Science

The film shows that based in part on procedural action taken by Thompson at the hearing, Cammermyer’s attorneys were able to persuade a federal court judge to overturn the discharge, resulting in Cammermeyer’s reinstatement in the Army in 1994.

From Washington Blade

SARS-CoV-2 spreads mainly through respiratory droplets — spatters of virus-laden discharge from the mouth and nose, according to the World Health Organization.

From Fortune

When you get the kind of discharge I had, they give you a suit and fifty dollars.

From The Daily Beast

But even as he was receiving awards, the military brass was processing his discharge—they had found out he was transgender.

From The Daily Beast

After an early discharge from the military, friends say Jordan Matson was searching for something.

From The Daily Beast

The film begins with her on stage, with a joke that Robespierre wrote about feminine discharge.

From The Daily Beast

The Army court-martialed him, sentencing him to 30 days' confinement and a dishonorable discharge.

From The Daily Beast

The reveillée of the sleeping Mexicans was the discharge of our two field-pieces loaded with canister.

From Project Gutenberg

On the 6th of March they met eleven Flemish ships, and they saluted each other by a discharge of cannon.

From Project Gutenberg

The discharge-valve was then opened for a moment, allowing a blast of steam to escape, reducing the pressure say to one-half.

From Project Gutenberg

After one month, and within a year from the adjudication of bankruptcy, the bankrupt may apply for a discharge.

From Project Gutenberg

In tuberculous disease the tubercle bacillus is present in the discharge, but its detection offers some difficulties.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clearance
• pardon
• parole
• release