Definition of 'discharge'
Word Frequency
discharge
Word forms: discharges, discharging, dischargedpronunciation note: The verb is pronounced (dɪstʃɑrdʒ
). The noun is pronounced (dɪstʃɑrdʒ
).
1. transitive verb
When someone is discharged from a hospital, prison, or one of the armed services, they are officially allowed to
leave, or told that they must leave.
He has a broken nose but may be discharged today.
2. transitive verb
If someone discharges their duties or responsibilities, they do everything that needs to be done in order
to complete them.
[formal]
...the quiet competence with which he discharged his many duties.
3. transitive verb
If something is discharged from inside a place, it comes out.
[formal]
The resulting salty water will be discharged at sea.
4. variable noun
When there is a discharge of a substance, the substance comes out from inside somewhere.
[formal]
They develop a fever and a watery discharge from their eyes.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
discharge in American English (dɪsˈtʃɑrdʒ ; dischärjˈ; also, & for n., usually ˈdɪsˌtʃɑrdʒ ; disˈchärjˌ)
verb transitiveWord forms: disˈcharged or disˈcharging
1.
; specif.,
a.
to remove the cargo of (a ship); unload
b.
to release the charge of (a gun); fire
d.
e.
to dismiss from employment
2.
to release or remove (that by which one is burdened or confined)
; specif.,
a.
to unload (a cargo)
b.
to shoot (a projectile)
c.
to remove (dye) from cloth
3.
to relieve oneself or itself of (a burden, load, etc.)
; specif.,
4. Architecture
a.
to relieve (a wall, etc.) of excess pressure by distribution of weight
b.
to distribute (weight) evenly over a supporting part
verb intransitive
6.
to get rid of a burden, load, etc.
7.
to be released or thrown off
8.
to fire; go off: said of a gun, etc.
10.
to run: said of a dye
11.
to lose or give off a stored electrical charge
noun
12.
a discharging or being discharged
13.
that which discharges, as a legal order for release, a certificate of dismissal from military service, etc.
15.
a flow of electric current across a gap, as in a spark or arc
SIMILAR WORDS: free
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
dischargeable (disˈchargeable) adjective
discharger (disˈcharger)
noun
Word origin of 'discharge'
ME dischargen < OFr descharger < VL *discarricare, to unload < L dis-, from + carrus, wagon, car1Word Frequency
discharge
verb (dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ
)
1. (transitive)
to release or allow to go
the hospital discharged the patient
3.
to fire or be fired, as a gun
6. (transitive)
he discharged his responsibilities as mayor
8. (intransitive) physics
a.
to lose or remove electric charge
c.
to take or supply electrical current from a cell or battery
12. (transitive) architecture
a.
to spread (weight) evenly over a supporting member
b.
to relieve a member of (excess weight) by distribution of pressure
noun (ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ
, dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ
)
13.
a person or thing that is discharged
15.
the fulfilment of an obligation or release from a responsibility or liability
honourable discharge
16.
the act of removing a load, as of cargo
17.
a pouring forth of a fluid; emission
19. law
a.
a release, as of a person held under legal restraint
b.
an annulment, as of a court order
20. physics
a.
b.
a transient or continuous conduction of electricity through a gas by the formation and movement of electrons and ions in an applied electric field
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
dischargeable (disˈchargeable) adjective
discharger (disˈcharger)
noun
Word Frequency
discharge in Chemical Engineering (dɪstʃɑrdʒ)
Word forms: (regular plural) discharges
noun (count) (noncount)
( Chemical Engineering : General )
discharge head, discharge rate Discharge is the flow of waste or product from a process.
The control of air pollution resulting from the discharge of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere has become increasingly urgent.
Other openings were provided at the top of the shell to allow discharge of the products of combustion into the air of the room.
Discharge is the flow of waste or product from a process.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
discharge in the Oil and Gas Industry (dɪstʃɑrdʒ)
Word forms: (present) discharges, (past) discharged, (perfect) discharged, (progressive) discharging
verb
( Extractive engineering : Field development , Drilling )
When a pump discharges a substance, it pushes it out.
Oil is discharged from the pump into the casing and out the wellhead.
The volume of the fluid discharged from the pump is equal to the area of the plunger or piston.
When a pump discharges a substance, it pushes it out.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
discharge in Electrical Engineering (dɪstʃɑrdʒ)
Word forms: (regular plural) discharges
noun
( Electrical engineering : Circuits , Electrical power )
air discharge, corona discharge, discharge tubeElectrical discharge can occur by the release of the electric charge stored in a capacitor through an
external circuit.
The discharge path was formed when a conductive liquid seeped into the plug-socket assembly.
Capacitors may also have built-in discharge resistors to dissipate stored energy to a safe level within a few seconds after power
is removed.
Electrical discharge can occur by the release of the electric charge stored in a capacitor through an
external circuit.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Example sentences containing 'discharge'
Times, Sunday Times (2013) Times, Sunday Times (2015)
She was fined and given a conditional discharge.
The Sun (2015)The men were taken to hospital but discharged.
The Sun (2016)She was looking down at it and discharged the gun.
The Sun (2015) Times, Sunday Times (2012) Times, Sunday Times (2011) Times, Sunday Times (2006)The most likely explanation is premature discharge of patients by hospital trusts under pressure of targets.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)He was given a conditional discharge for possessing heroin.
The Sun (2006) Times, Sunday Times (2012) Christianity Today (2000) Times, Sunday Times (2011)The footage shows a man being pinned to the ground by three policemen while a fourth discharges the stun gun.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)If the repayment plan is successfully completed, the debts are discharged.
Principles of Corporate Finance (1991)The teen got a conditional discharge and must pay 215 for the damage.
The Sun (2015) Times, Sunday Times (2011)Typically, military members dismissed for failing drug tests do not receive an honourable discharge.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)His debts to be discharged, and something still to remain!
Pride and Prejudice (1813)She was given a two-year conditional discharge.
Times, Sunday Times (2015) Times, Sunday Times (2013)I subsequently discharged my debt to her.
EMPIRES OF THE PLAIN: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon (2003)If he discharges waste into the pipes and they flood your land, you could sue him for causing a nuisance.
Times, Sunday Times (2010) The Sun (2014)Synonyms of 'discharge'
unloading, emptying, unburdening, disburdening
Word Lists
Law termsTrends of 'discharge'
View usage over:
Translations for 'discharge'
British English: discharge VERB
When someone is discharged from hospital, prison, or one of the armed services, they are officially allowed to leave, or told that they must leave.He has a broken nose but may be discharged today.
When someone is discharged from hospital, prison, or one of the armed services, they are officially allowed to leave, or told that they must leave.He has a broken nose but may be discharged today.
Source
Definition of discharge from the
Collins English Dictionary
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