Link Centre Dictionary

dispense

dis·pense

US/dɪˈspɛns/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

administer or bestow, as in small portions

  • “administer critical remarks to everyone present”
  • “dole out some money”
  • “shell out pocket money for the children”
  • “deal a blow to someone”
Synonyms
2.

grant a dispensation; grant an exemption

  • “I was dispensed from this terrible task”
3.

give or apply (medications)

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre (“to weigh out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense”), frequentative of dispendere (“to weigh out”), from dis- (“apart”) + pendere (“to weigh”).

Phrases

  • dispense with

Related words

Word family

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See also

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.