dispose of

present singular third person disposes of · participle present disposing of · participle past disposed of · past disposed of

1. transitiveTo get rid of; to dispense with.

   They disposed of the stolen property.

   4 more examples

   The national power committee has trouble disposing of nuclear waste.

   ‘Yes,’ answered the manager; ‘he sent his assistant down the river with a note to me in these terms: “Clear this poor devil out of the country, and don’t bother sending more of that sort. I had rather be alone than have the kind of men you can dispose of with me.”

   1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part II

   The lines adjacent to and crossing the Border already have been closed, and Dundalk Works have been disposed of to a firm of engineers.

   1958 August 28, “Division of the G.N.R.(I.)”, in Railway Magazine, page 516

   But it's not against any religion / To want to dispose of a pigeon

   1959, Tom Lehrer, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park”

   Synonyms: consign, lose

2. transitiveTo transfer to another's control.
3. transitiveTo deal with conclusively, e.g. a threat, a difficult situation.
4. transitiveTo arrange in an orderly way.
5. transitiveTo settle or conclusively deal with, e.g. a dispute; to dispose.
6. European UniontransitiveTo have available, or at one's disposal.

   The Commission may not be able to assess the reliability of the data provided by Member States and may not dispose of independent information sources.