Dispense

/dɪˈspɛns/ · verb

Meaning

To issue, distribute, or give out..

Definitions by Sense

1. To issue, distribute, or give out.
2. To apply, as laws to particular cases; to administer; to execute; to manage; to direct.
3. To supply or make up a medicine or prescription.
4. (particularly in canon law) To give a dispensation to (someone); to excuse.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
6. (obsolete) Cost, expenditure.
7. (obsolete) The act of dispensing, dispensation.

Example Sentences

He is delighted to dispense a share of it to all the company.

The smoky spray seemed to trap whatever light there was and to dispense it subtly.

to dispense justice

While you dispense the laws, and guide the state.

The pharmacist dispensed my tablets.

An optician can dispense spectacles.

1779–81, Samuel Johnson, "Richard Savage" in Lives of the Most Eminent English Poet He appeared to think himself born to be supported by others, and dispensed from all necessity of providing for himself.

Every spring, the passive aggressive archbishop suffered from a brief flu that dispensed him from needing to provide Easter service to the king.

Synonyms for dispense

Antonyms for dispense

Related Words

Word Forms

• dispenses
• dispensing
• dispensed
• dispence

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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