discharge

present singular third person discharges · participle present discharging · participle past discharged · past discharged

1. To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.

   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 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

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   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 President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. (1965, Amendment XXV)

2. To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear.

   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

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   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

   How happy is his low degree, / How rich in humble poverty, is he, / Who leads a quiet country life; / Diſcharg'd of buſineſs, void of ſtrife, / And from the griping ſcrivener free?

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Second Epode of Horace”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 477

3. 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] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

4. 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 Longmans, →OCLC

5. 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

6. 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 Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

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   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

7. businessTo release (an accumulated charge).

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   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 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

8. 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, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]

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   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

   Synonyms: fire, let go, terminate, axe, can, decruit, dehire, discard

   1. medicineTo release (an inpatient) from hospital.

      Synonyms: fire, let go, terminate, axe, can, decruit, dehire, discard

   2. governmentTo release (a member of the armed forces) from service.

      Synonyms: fire, let go, terminate, axe, can, decruit, dehire, discard

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).

    discharge his pieces

    1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC

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    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, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC

11. human sciencesTo 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.

    Synonyms: teem, pour out

15. To let fly; to give expression to; to utter.

    He discharged a horrible oath.

16. transitivebusinessTo 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

17. ScotlandobsoleteTo 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 given

    1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC

plural discharges

1. The act of expelling or letting go.
   1. countableuncountablemedicineThe act of releasing an inpatient from hospital.

      care transition after discharge

   2. countableuncountablegovernmentThe act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service.

      career transition after discharge

2. countableuncountableThe material thus released.

   the cooling tower's discharge

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   Near-synonyms: effluent, effluence (sometimes synonymous)

   a mucopurulent vaginal discharge

   Synonyms: effluent, effluence

3. countableuncountableThe act of firing a projectile, especially from a firearm.

   negligent discharge

   Synonyms: firing

4. countableuncountableThe process of removing the load borne by something.

   Synonyms: unloading

5. countableuncountableThe process of flowing out.

   Synonyms: effluence

   1. uncountablemedicinePus or exudate or mucus (but in modern usage not exclusively blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to pathological or hormonal changes.

      Near-synonyms: effluent, effluence (sometimes synonymous)

      Synonyms: effluence, effluent, effluence

6. countableuncountablebusinessThe act of releasing an accumulated charge.
7. countableuncountablegeographyThe volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time, usually in units of m³/s (cubic meters per second).
8. countableuncountableThe 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 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

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   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

9. countableuncountablelawRelease 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.