dispenser
Americannoun
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a person or thing that dispenses.
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a container, package, device, or vending machine for holding and dispensing something in small amounts, as facial tissue, paper cups, or candy.
noun
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a device, such as a vending machine, that automatically dispenses a single item or a measured quantity
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a person or thing that dispenses
Etymology
Origin of dispenser
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at dispense, -er 1
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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.
I can’t count how many times during my stays a dispenser didn’t work or had little left in it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
As the baseball world shut down, Call bought a portable Junior Hack Attack hitting machine with a self-feeding ball dispenser.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2025
Always keep the container tightly sealed to minimize contact with air – if your dispenser bottle has an open spout, your oil will degrade faster.
From Salon • Jan. 19, 2025
The dispenser went away during the pandemic, and for a while there were no onions at all, but recently they came back, albeit now served in little premeasured plastic ramekins.
From Slate • Dec. 28, 2024
You wash your hands, bypassing the paper towel dispenser, shaking the water off.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
