dispose
Americanverb (used with object)
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disposes,
present (3rd person singular)
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disposed,
past participle, past
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disposing
present participle
-
to give a tendency or inclination to; incline.
His temperament disposed him to argue readily with people.
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to put in a particular or the proper order or arrangement; adjust by arranging the parts.
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to put in a particular or suitable place.
The lamp was disposed on a table nearby.
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to make fit or ready; prepare.
Your words of cheer dispose me for the task.
verb (used without object)
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disposes,
present (3rd person singular)
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disposed,
past participle, past
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disposing
present participle
-
to arrange or decide matters.
to do as God disposes.
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Obsolete. to make terms.
noun
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Archaic. disposition; habit.
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Obsolete. arrangement; regulation; disposal.
verb phrase
verb
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to deal with or settle
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to give, sell, or transfer to another
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to throw out or away
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to consume, esp hurriedly
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to kill
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-
to arrange or settle (matters) by placing into correct or final condition
man proposes, God disposes
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(tr) to make willing or receptive
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(tr) to adjust or place in a certain order or position
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to accustom or condition
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disposesimple
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disposessimple
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have disposedperfect
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has disposedperfect
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am disposingprogressive
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are disposingprogressive
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is disposingprogressive
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have been disposingperfect progressive
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has been disposingperfect progressive
Past
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disposedsimple
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had disposedperfect
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was disposingprogressive
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were disposingprogressive
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had been disposingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dispose
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French disposer, equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + poser “to place” ( see pose 1), on the model of Latin dispōnere
Explanation
If you dispose of something, you get rid of it. Don't want that sweatshirt with the clown's face on it? Give it away, throw it out, even sell it — these are all ways to dispose of that awful shirt. The verb dispose comes from the Latin word disponere, meaning “put in order,” “arrange,” or “distribute" — like when you dispose volunteers to collect trash at a park. The word of usually follows dispose when it means "getting rid of something." Another meaning is "make willing or open to something," like your childhood love of reading that disposes you to becoming a life-long reader.
Vocabulary lists containing dispose
Life Is So Good
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Good Riddance
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Henry David Thoreau "Civil Disobedience" (1849)
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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:
In the letter, Muir emphasised that the department was asked by a court to dispose of the animals and that the farmland in question was remote.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Jegede said if the leaves or fruit are too delicate to wash or ash is still visible, it would be best to dispose of the produce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Passing the bill would also start to relieve a logjam of legislation that Congress is seeking to dispose of before its August recess and the November midterm elections.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
It might dispose of him in a minute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Furthermore, Schindler had our lives in his hands and could dispose of us at any moment.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Along the way, Mr. Pinsker disposes of some stubborn myths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
But instead of deciding the case at the end of June when the court ordinarily disposes of the cases heard during the term, the court set the case up for re-argument.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2025
Do they think there is some sort of pickup service that comes along and disposes of their carefully collected excrement?
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024
St. Damien has scheduled her first pickup with Ridwell, a subscription service that picks up and disposes of hard-to-recycle trash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
Collectively, the Party owns everything in Oceania, because it controls everything and disposes of the products as it thinks fit.
From "1984" by George Orwell
And California recently enacted a law requiring retailers to manage how clothing waste is disposed of, in a bid to keep clothes from further bloating landfills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“For far too long, tow companies have sold or disposed of servicemembers’ vehicles in violation of federal law,” Assistant Atty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
The boy is further said to have disposed of the sword.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Conventional desalination produces liquid brine that must be treated, disposed of, or discharged into the environment.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
He disposed of other spent material in his kiln or in pits filled with quicklime.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
The settlement comes three months after federal prosecutors filed the lawsuit, accusing the company of illegally selling, auctioning or disposing of vehicles owned by SCRA-protected service members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Properly collecting and disposing of spent fireworks could help reduce these environmental effects.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026
It makes much of its money on water that those companies need to use in their operations, and by recycling and disposing of that water.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
I felt that if I sold or threw them away I was disposing of my mother and her mother, and their significance in my life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
When he went back to Proteus, the latter had to think out other ways of disposing of him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
