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
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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:
Collectibles, Novack noted, are hard to dispose of, too.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
She said: "The bomb disposal people, it's their job... so hopefully they can dispose of the bomb."
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Over the longer term, Public Bank might dispose its Public Financial stake to unlock value and free up capital, given Hong Kong’s competitive market, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
But it also has a large residential population, who have become increasingly exasperated with tourists who fail to properly dispose of rubbish, smoke where they're not supposed to, and make too much noise.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
“I’ll dispose of the clone, sir,” said Tam Lin.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Along the way, Mr. Pinsker disposes of some stubborn myths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
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
Equally important, there’s no way to ignore the spectacularly difficult institutional hurdles of how society manages and disposes of its nuclear waste.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2023
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
The market is currently “well disposed to the U.K.,” although that support isn’t guaranteed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
The office intends to have an environmental contractor remove the lithium batteries, which it says will be properly disposed of.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
After the Second World War ended, the Allies disposed of tons of ammunition by dumping it into the ocean so it could not fall into the wrong hands.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
"When he was moving about nine months to a year later, the skeleton was disposed of into the bins," Singh added.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
She thought of the dreaded figure of Mr. Alpo, from the Giddy-Yap, Rainbow! tales, who disposed of unwanted ponies by taking them to the slaughterhouse.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
In June, a judge in Dubai banned Eyyub, Garayev and 13 other firms and people from disposing of assets valued up to $704 million as the case moved forward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Forest Service asked for help disposing of dead trees culled from the forest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Long said he wanted a rebate as he had been required to pay council tax since moving in and despite disposing of rubbish in skips provided by the estate developer.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
In Arizona, streams are mostly dry, and the state has many water-intensive mining projects, each with systems for draining stormwater and disposing of water used in minerals processing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
As soon as the rovers were unstowed and activated, Commander Lewis had the joy of disposing of the RTG.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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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.
