Verb
discharge (third-person singular simple present discharges, present participle discharging, simple past and past participle discharged)
- To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
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]:O most dear mistress, / The sun will set before I shall discharge / What I must strive to do.
- To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear.
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: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.
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: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?
- To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
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]:If he had / The present money to discharge the Jew.
- To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
- To expel or let go.
- January 1, 1878, Herbert Spencer, Ceremonial Government, published in The Fortnightly Review No. 132
- Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions.
- To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
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]:They do discharge their shot of courtesy.
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]
- (electricity) To release (an accumulated charge).
2024 March 6, “Network News: GWR '230' sets UK battery record”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 13: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.
- To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
- Synonyms: fire, let go, terminate; see also Thesaurus:lay off
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]:Discharge the common sort / With pay and thanks.
- (medicine) To release (an inpatient) from hospital.
- (military) 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).
1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:discharge his pieces
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: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.
- (logic) 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.
- 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.
- (transitive, textiles) 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
- (obsolete, Scotland) To prohibit; to forbid.
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: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
Translations
to accomplish or complete, as an obligation
to expel or let go
- Azerbaijani: çıxarmaq (az), işdən çıxarmaq, azad etmək, kənar etmək, kənarlaşdırmaq (az)
- Bulgarian: освобождавам (bg) (osvoboždavam), изпускам (bg) (izpuskam)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 排放 (zh) (páifàng), 釋放/释放 (zh) (shìfàng), 免職/免职 (zh) (miǎnzhí)
- Finnish: päästää (fi)
- Greek: απολύω (el) (apolýo)
- Hungarian: elbocsát (hu)
- Irish: scaoil
- Japanese: 免じる (menjiru)
- Macedonian: осло́боди (oslóbodi)
- Norwegian: avskjedige (no)
- Portuguese: dispensar (pt)
- Russian: освобожда́ть (ru) impf (osvoboždátʹ), (from a jail) освободи́ть (ru) pf (osvobodítʹ), увольня́ть (ru) impf (uvolʹnjátʹ), уво́лить (ru) pf (uvólitʹ)
- Spanish: despedir (es), descargar (es)
- Swedish: peta (sv), entlediga (sv), avskeda (sv)
- Turkish: tahliye etmek (tr)
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electricity: to release an accumulated charge
medicine: to release (an inpatient) from hospital
military: to release (a member of the armed forces) from service
to operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling)
to stop using (an auxiliary assumption)
to give forth, to emit, to give out
Noun
discharge (countable and uncountable, plural discharges)
- The act of expelling or letting go.
- (medicine) The act of releasing an inpatient from hospital.
care transition after discharge
- (military) The act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service.
career transition after discharge
- Hyponyms: dishonorable discharge, honorable discharge
- The material thus released.
a mucopurulent vaginal discharge
the cooling tower's discharge
- The act of firing a projectile, especially from a firearm.
- Synonym: firing
negligent discharge
- The process of removing the load borne by something.
- Synonym: unloading
- The process of flowing out.
- (medicine, uncountable) Pus or exudate or mucus (but in modern usage not exclusively blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to pathological or hormonal changes.
- (electricity) The act of releasing an accumulated charge.
- (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).
- The act of accomplishing (an obligation) or repaying a debt etc.; performance.
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]:Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come / In yours and my discharge.
1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 137:She [the Queen] was assisted in the discharge of her solemn functions by fourteen sacred women, one for each of the altars of Dionysus.
- (law) 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.
Translations
pus or exudate from a wound or orifice
act of accomplishing (an obligation)
act of expelling or letting go
act of releasing an accumulated charge
act of releasing an inpatient from hospital
act of releasing a member of the armed forces from service
volume of water transported by a river in a certain amount of time