dispense with

present singular third person dispenses with · participle present dispensing with · participle past dispensed with · past dispensed with

1. transitiveTo eliminate; to dispose of.

   I wish he would dispense with the pleasantries and get to the point.

   1 more example

   When the scheme is completed, the 99-year-old swing bridge over the canal will be dispensed with as the new bridge will have sufficient height to allow clearance for the passage of canal traffic.

   1954 February, “Notes and News: Deviation at Bramwith”, in Railway Magazine, page 137

2. transitiveTo do without.

   The people hereabouts, sir, would seem to dispense with street illumination, and it is very dark tonight.

   1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

   1 more example

   You might learn, for instance, that table manners can be dispensed with at restaurants, because the grown-ups are too embarrassed to discipline you in public.

   2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, →ISBN, pages 200–201