Discharge | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Dis-chārge', v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. DISCHARGED; p. pr. & vb. n. DISCHARGING.] [Prefix dis and charge, q. v.; O. Fr. descharger; Pr. & Sp. descargar; It. scaricare, Catal. descarregar, L. Lat. discargare, discarricare.]

Sense 1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a load or cargo; to unload; as, to discharge a vessel.

Sense 2. To free of the missile with which any thing is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, &c.;—especially said of fire-arms, to fire off;—also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar.

The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city. Knolles.

Sense 3. To relieve of something weighing upon or impending over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, accusation, &c.; to absolve; to acquit; to exonerate; to clear. “Discharged of business, void of strife.” Dryden. “If one man’s fault could discharge another man of his duty.” D’Estrange.

Sense 4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.

Discharge the common sort With pay and thanks. Shak.

Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see. Milton.

Sense 5. To take away, put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which any thing is loaded or filled; as, to discharge a cargo.

Sense 6. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.

They do discharge their shot of courtesy. Shak.

Sense 7. To throw off the obligation of, as a debt, obligation, or duty; to relieve one’s self of, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, and the like; hence, to perform or execute, as an office, or part.

Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden.

Sense 8. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges water; to let fly; to give vent to; to utter; as, to discharge a horrible oath; to send away; to dismiss; to release; as, to discharge a prisoner.

Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, &c., to distribute or relieve the pressure. Gwilt.—Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery.

Dis-chàrge', v. i.

verbintransitive

To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden. The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. Bacon.

Dis-chärge', n.

noun

n. 1. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge, load, burden, or of something that oppresses or weighs upon one, as a debt, obligation, accusation, office, and the like; unloading; firing off; exoneration; acquittance; dismissal.

There is no discharge in that war. Eccl. viii. 8.

Sense 2. The act of giving forth, putting away, removing, or getting rid of, a load, burden, obligation, &c.; dismissal; letting fly; canceling of a debt or obligation; performance of a duty; release. “Indefatigable in the discharge of business.” Motley.

Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L’Estrange.

Sense 3. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal; dismissal.

Too secure of our discharge From penalty. Milton.

Sense 4. That which discharges or releases from an obligation; evidence of release or dismissal.

Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton.

Sense 5. That which is discharged, or emitted; matter vented. “A thin, serous discharge.” Sharp.