discharge
/dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ//dɪsˈtʃɑɹdʒ/
discharge verb: to accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
Verb
discharge (third-person singular simple present discharges, present participle discharging, simple past and past participle discharged)
- To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
- Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the...
- O most dear mistress, / The sun will set before I shall discharge / What I must strive to do.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear.
- But in deede, the ſecret cauſe that brought Ageſilaus to conſent vnto this practiſe, was the greatnes of his dette which he ought, of the which he hoped to be diſcharged by chaunging of the ſtate and common wealth.1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “Agis and Cleomenes”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 851
- For if One Man's Faults could Discharge Another Man of his Duty,there would be no longer any Place left for the Common Offices of Society.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
- To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
- If he had / The present money to discharge the Jew.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
- The order for Daly's attendance was discharged.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
- To expel or let go.
- Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions.January 1, 1878, Herbert Spencer, Ceremonial Government, published in The Fortnightly Review No. 132
- To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
- They do discharge their shot of courtesy.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
- To release (an accumulated charge).
- GWR plans to use it on the Greenford branch in west London, making use of a fast charger at West Ealing that will charge the batteries in just three and a half minutes. This fast charger is essentially a battery installed at the lineside which is trickle-charged from the electricity grid. It can...2024 March 6, “Network News: GWR '230' sets UK battery record”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 13
- To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
- Discharge the common sort / With pay and thanks.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- Grindal […] was discharged the government of his see.1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC
- To release (an inpatient) from hospital.
- To release (a member of the armed forces) from service.
- To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty.
- to discharge a prisoner
- To operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling).
- discharge his pieces1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC
- I ran forward, discharging my pistol into the creature's body in an effort to force it to relinquish its prey; but I might as profitably have shot at the sun.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor...
- To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.
- To unload a ship or another means of transport.
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- To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled.
- to discharge a cargo
- To give forth; to emit or send out.
- A pipe discharges water.
- To let fly; to give expression to; to utter.
- He discharged a horrible oath.
- To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process.
- to discharge the colour from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark background
- To prohibit; to forbid.
- That Richard Stevenson, Robert Calcott, and Richard Tyldesley, be discharged from farther restraint, giving good security to appear at this Board whensoever summoned, and not depart this city until full satisfaction be given1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC
Noun
discharge (countable and uncountable, plural discharges)
- The act of releasing an inpatient from hospital.
- care transition after discharge
- The act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service.
- career transition after discharge
- The material thus released.
- Near-synonyms: effluent, effluence (sometimes synonymous)
- a mucopurulent vaginal discharge
- The act of firing a projectile, especially from a firearm.
- negligent discharge
- Synonyms:
- firing
- The process of removing the load borne by something.
- Synonyms:
- unloading
- The process of flowing out.
- Synonyms:
- effluence
- The act of releasing an accumulated charge.
- The volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time, usually in units of m³/s (cubic meters per second).
- The act of accomplishing (an obligation) or repaying a debt etc.; performance.
- Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come / In yours and my discharge.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- She [the Queen] was assisted in the discharge of her solemn functions by fourteen sacred women, one for each of the altars of Dionysus.1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 137
- Release from liability, as granted to someone having served in a position of trust, such as to the officers and governors of a corporate body.
- After having granted discharge from liability, the general meeting of shareholders may not demand for the company compensation for matters which it had knowledge of when granting discharge.
discharge meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
discharge in Hindi
- to expel or let go
- निष्कासन niṣkāsan
- medicine: to release (an inpatient) from hospital
- छूटना chūṭnā
- military: to release (a member of the armed forces) from service
- निष्कासन niṣkāsan
- act of expelling or letting go
- निष्कासन niṣkāsan
discharge in Tamil
- பாரமிறக்குதல், சுடுதல், பாரமிறக்கு, கடன் செலுத்து, வெளியேற்று
discharge in Urdu
- چھٹی, نکاس, رہائی, رخصت, آزاد کرنا, چھوڑنا
discharge in Bengali
- সম্পাদন, অগ্নিবৃষ্টি, মুক্তি, নির্গমন, প্রবাহ, নিক্ষেপ
More languagesFewer languages
- discharge in Malayalam
- ജോലിയിൽനിന്നു വിടുതൽ ചെയ്യുക, വിട്ടയയ്ക്കുക, പണിയിൽ നിന്നു പിരിച്ചുവിടുക, പുറത്തു വിടുക
- discharge in Kannada
- ಹರಿ, ತೀರಿಸು, ಬಿಡು, ಚಿಗಿ
- discharge in Punjabi
- چھڈنا chaḍḍṇā
- discharge in Odia
- ବିସର୍ଗ bisarga
- discharge in Sanskrit
- विसर्जयति visarjayati, हा hā, रेचयति recáyati, हिनोति hinóti
- discharge in Assamese
- উলিয়া ulia
- discharge in Nepali
- निर्वहन, डिस्चार्ज, डिस्चार्ज गर्ने
- discharge in Malay
- nyahcas, discaj, lelehan
- discharge in Indonesian
- melucut, duh
- discharge in Persian
- دبی debi
Examples of discharge in a sentence
- the cooling tower's discharge
- It can then discharge quickly into the train's batteries through charging rails and then start recharging itself while the train is running in service.2024 March 6, “Network News: GWR '230' sets UK battery record”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 13:
Synonyms of discharge
26 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- downsize
- give the axe
- give someone the boot
- give someone their cards
- give the chop
- give the elbow
- give someone the heave-ho
- give someone the old heave-ho
- lay off
- let someone go
- make redundant
- pink slip
- promote to customer
- retrench
- sack
- serve notice
- shit-can
- term
- throw out
- unhire
- teem
- pour out
- effluent
- effluence
- firing
- unloading
Forms of discharge
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | discharges |
| present participle | discharging |
| past participle | discharged |
| past | discharged |
| Noun | |
| plural | discharges |
Origin of discharge
From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge.
Words formed from discharge
- dischargeable
- dischargee
- dischargement
- discharger
- nondischarging
- redischarge
- undischarged
- self-discharge
- afterdischarge
- blue discharge
- constructive discharge
- corona discharge
- deep discharge
- discharge tube
- dishonorable discharge
- dishonourable discharge
- electrical discharge machining
- electric discharge
- electrostatic discharge
- gas discharge
- glow discharge
- honorable discharge
- interdischarge
- microdischarge
- nasal discharge
- partial discharge
- partial discharge extinction voltage
- partial discharge inception voltage
- postdischarge
- predischarge
- streamer discharge
- surface discharge
- Townsend discharge
- vaginal discharge
Phrases with discharge
Words that rhyme with discharge
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about discharge
- What does discharge mean?
- Discharge means to accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
- What is discharge in Hindi?
- Discharge in Hindi is निष्कासन (niṣkāsan), छूटना (chūṭnā), स्राव (srāv). See Discharge meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use discharge in a sentence?
- the cooling tower's discharge
- What part of speech is discharge?
- Discharge can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce discharge?
- Discharge is pronounced /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of discharge?
- The past tense of discharge is discharged.
Words near discharge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: discharge (page history and authors); discharge (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discharge (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discharge (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discharge (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discharge (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); چھڈنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ବିସର୍ଗ (Odia) (page history and authors); मुक्ति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); উলিয়া (Assamese) (page history and authors); discharge (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-discharge (verb).wav, En-us-discharge.ogg.
Cite this entry: “discharge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discharge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.