Discharge

Pronunciation

Origin

From Anglo-Norman descharger, from Old French deschargier, from Late Latin discarricō.

Full definition of discharge

Verb

1. To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
• 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 3 scene 1O most dear mistress,
  The sun will set before I shall discharge
  What I must strive to do.
2. To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear.
• DrydenDischarged of business, void of strife.
• L'EstrangeIn one man's fault discharge another man of his duty.
3. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
• ShakespeareIf he had
  The present money to discharge the Jew.
4. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
• MacaulayThe order for Daly's attendance was discharged.
5. To expel or let go.
• H. SpencerFeeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions.
6. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
• ShakespeareThey do discharge their shot of courtesy.
7. (electricity) To release (an accumulated charge).
8. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
• ShakespeareDischarge the common sort
  With pay and thanks.
• MiltonGrindal ... was discharged the government of his see.
1. (medicine) To release (an inpatient) from hospital.
2. (military) To release (a member of the armed forces) from service.
9. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty.to discharge a prisoner
10. To operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling).
• KnollesThe galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city.
• 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot (novel) Chapter IVI 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.
11. To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.
12. To unload a ship or another means of transport.
13. 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
14. To give forth; to emit or send out.A pipe discharges water.
15. To let fly; to give expression to; to utter.He discharged a horrible oath.
16. (obsolete, Scotland) To prohibit; to forbid.

Noun

1. (symptom) (uncountable) pus or exudate (other than blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to infection or pathology
2. the act of accomplishing (an obligation); performance
• 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 2 scene 1Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come
  In yours and my discharge.
3. the act of expelling or letting go
4. (electricity) the act of releasing an accumulated charge
5. (medicine) the act of releasing an inpatient from hospital
6. (military) the act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service
7. (hydrology) the volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time, usually in units of m³/s (cubic meters per second)