discharge

USdis-CHARJ/dɪsˈtʃɑɹdʒ/dis-CHAHJ/dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/

31 meanings of discharge

1
verbtransitive
To officially allow a patient to leave the hospital, usually once treatment is finished.
The hospital plans to discharge the patient once her blood pressure stabilizes.
He was discharged with instructions to rest for two weeks.
Similarrelease
Oppositeadmit
Note
Hospital use keeps the old idea of sending someone away from service, softened into permission to go home. The usual pattern is passive: a patient is discharged, often with conditions attached, as in "discharged with instructions to rest." The synonyms fire and let go belong to the employment sense and sound wrong here. The planned event has its own hospital noun.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of forcing something out, or of releasing it and letting it go.
The plant was fined for the discharge of untreated wastewater into the bay.
Engineers fitted the boiler with a valve that allows a controlled discharge of excess steam.
Similarrelease, emission, ejection, outflow
Oppositeintake
Note
Behind the act lies an image of unloading: Old French deschargier and Late Latin discarricāre both meant "to unload," so a discharge is a load let out. This is the action noun of the verb "to expel", and it pairs naturally with an of-phrase naming what goes out: a discharge of steam, of wastewater. Keep it apart from the released material itself. Here the word names the letting go, not the stuff.
3
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of officially releasing a patient from the hospital.
The patient's discharge depended on a final review by the surgeon.
Doctors scheduled her discharge for Friday morning.
Similarrelease
Oppositeadmission
Note
Planning language for the end of a hospital stay, and it is both countable and uncountable. A single patient's leaving is counted (her discharge on Friday). The general stage of care is not: care transition after discharge. In that second use the word marks a boundary, separating what happens on the ward from what follows at home.
4
verbtransitive
To formally release a member of the armed forces from active duty.
The navy chose to discharge the sailor on medical grounds.
He was honorably discharged after completing his tour.
Similarrelease
Oppositeenlist, recruit, conscript
Note
The armed-forces branch of the dismissal sense, and it attracts qualifiers: honorably discharged, discharged on medical grounds. Those qualifiers matter, because the manner of release follows a service member afterward. Soldiers are almost always discharged by someone else, so the verb sits comfortably in the passive. The formal outcome is named by the military noun.
5
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of formally releasing a member of the armed forces from duty.
An honorable discharge entitled him to veterans' benefits.
The soldier's discharge was processed within a week.
Similarrelease, demobilization
Oppositeenlistment, induction
Note
A military discharge is a status as much as an event, and its character is named: honorable, general or dishonorable. That label shapes benefits and later employment. "An honorable discharge entitled him to veterans' benefits" shows the usual frame, with an adjective of character before the noun. Uncountable uses look past the moment of release, as in career transition after discharge.
6
verbtransitive
To dismiss someone from a job or position; to remove them from service.
The board voted to discharge the manager after the scandal.
She was discharged from her post without warning.
Similarfire, dismiss, sack, terminate, remove
Oppositehire, employ, appoint, engage
7
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
noununcountable
Pus, mucus, or other fluid that comes from a wound or body opening, usually because of disease or hormonal changes.
The doctor examined the discharge to identify the infection.
Any unusual discharge from a wound should be reported promptly.
Similarsecretion, drainage, ooze
Note
A clinical sign rather than a diagnosis. Doctors describe a discharge by what it contains (purulent, mucopurulent, serous) and by where it comes from, then work back to the cause. The noun is used uncountably here, as in "any unusual discharge," and plain bleeding is usually named separately.
8
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The matter or substance that is released or let out of something.
The plant's discharge flowed steadily into the canal.
Inspectors collected samples of the discharge for analysis.
Similareffluent, outflow, emission, waste
Note
The same noun covers what leaves a body and what leaves a machine. Doctors write of a mucopurulent discharge, and engineers of a cooling tower's discharge. In the industrial setting it overlaps with effluent and effluence, and the two are sometimes interchangeable. Discharge is the wider word, while effluent leans toward liquid waste.
9
verbtransitive
To give off, emit, or send something out.
Wetlands slowly discharge stored water during dry seasons.
The chimney discharged thick black smoke.
Similaremit, release, belch, spew, exude
Oppositeabsorb
10
verbtransitive
To force something out or let it go.
Certain glands discharge hormones directly into the bloodstream.
The valve discharged excess steam to ease the pressure.
Similarrelease, emit, expel, secrete, vent
Oppositeabsorb, retain

11
verbtransitive
To fire a weapon that launches a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling.
It is illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits.
She discharged the shotgun at the clay target.
Similarfire, shoot
12
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of shooting a bullet, shell, or other projectile, most often from a gun.
The accidental discharge of his weapon led to an inquiry.
Witnesses reported a single discharge before the alarm sounded.
Similarfiring
Note
Firearms language has a fixed phrase for the shot nobody intended: negligent discharge. The word is preferred to shot or firing when the firing itself is the subject of inquiry. In that setting the question is what made the weapon go off, rather than where the bullet went. The matching verb is the firing verb.
13
verbtransitive
To free someone of a debt, obligation, or accusation; to absolve, acquit, or clear them.
Bankruptcy may discharge a borrower from most unsecured debts.
The tribunal discharged her of all wrongdoing.
Similarrelease, free, absolve, clear, acquit
Oppositeconvict, charge
Note
Older writers freed a person of the burden. North's Plutarch of 1579 has a man hoping to be discharged of his debt, and Dryden's Horace is "discharg'd of business." Today of still serves for accusations (discharged of all wrongdoing), and from works too (discharged from most unsecured debts). In both, the grammatical object is the person set free. In the paying-off sense, by contrast, the object is the creditor.
14
verbtransitive
To carry out or complete a duty or obligation.
Trustees must discharge their responsibilities with care.
The official discharged his obligations faithfully for years.
Similarfulfill, perform, execute, meet, honor
Oppositeneglect, shirk
15
verbtransitive
To release someone from confinement by legal authority, setting them free.
The magistrate ordered the authorities to discharge the suspect.
Several inmates were discharged once their sentences ended.
Similarrelease, free, liberate
Oppositedetain, imprison, confine, jail
16
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The release of an accumulated electric charge.
The capacitor's discharge powered the flash for a fraction of a second.
A sudden discharge of static can damage sensitive electronics.
Similarrelease
Note
Physicists count discharges as events: a spark, a static jolt, a lightning stroke. They also speak of discharge as a process measured over time, as when a battery runs down. Discharge can therefore be sudden or gradual, and context tells which. The adjective often signals the kind, as in static discharge.
17
verbtransitive or intransitive
To release an electric charge that has built up in a device or material.
Lightning rods let buildings discharge static safely into the ground.
The technician waited for the capacitor to discharge before anyone touched it.
Similarrelease, drain, dissipate
Oppositecharge
Note
Engineers use the verb in two ways. A technician discharges a capacitor, and a capacitor also discharges on its own, with no object at all. It is the exact reverse of charging, so the two verbs travel together in talk of batteries and storage. Safety practice depends on it: a component is treated as dangerous until it has discharged. The event itself has its own noun.
18
verbtransitive
To unload cargo or passengers from a ship or another means of transport.
Crews discharge the containers onto the dock within hours of arrival.
The tanker discharged its oil at the refinery terminal.
Similarunload, offload
Oppositeload, embark
Note
The oldest picture in the word lies here. Old French deschargier and Late Latin discarricare both meant "to unload": dis- plus charge, taking the load off. Ships and tankers still discharge cargo in exactly that sense. Paying a debt, firing a gun and releasing a patient all carry that unloading into other fields, as if a burden were lifted each time.
19
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of carrying out an obligation or repaying a debt; the performance of a duty.
Full discharge of the loan freed the family from years of debt.
The board commended the manager for the faithful discharge of his responsibilities.
Similarfulfillment, performance, execution, settlement, repayment
Oppositeneglect, default, dereliction
Note
Formal prose fixes this noun in a set frame: in the discharge of one's duties, functions or responsibilities. James George Frazer's The Golden Bough (1890) has the Queen "assisted in the discharge of her solemn functions." Shakespeare's The Tempest leaves "what to come / In yours and my discharge." It is the noun behind the duty-performing verb.
20
verbtransitive
To put forth or remove a charge or burden; to take out what something is loaded or filled with.
The machine discharges the grain into waiting trucks.
Engineers discharge excess pressure through a safety vent.
Similarunload, empty, release, dump, vent
Oppositeload, fill
21
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The process of a fluid flowing out from a container, opening, or body.
Heavy rain sharply increased the discharge from the storm drains.
The factory's discharge of wastewater alarmed local residents.
Similareffluence
Oppositeinflow, intake
22
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The process of removing the load that something is carrying.
Discharge of the ship's freight began at dawn.
A second crane sped up the discharge of the containers.
Similarunloading
Oppositeloading
23
verbtransitive
To fire a weapon or let a missile fly.
The hunter discharged both barrels at the fleeing bird.
Soldiers must never discharge their firearms without orders.
Similarfire, shoot, launch
24
verbtransitive
To give expression to something; to utter or let fly words or feelings.
The poet discharges his grief in verse after verse.
They discharge their complaints whenever the manager walks by.
Similarvent, express, voice, air, unleash
Oppositesuppress, repress, stifle
25
verbtransitive
To pay one's debt or obligation in full, sending away a creditor satisfied by payment.
The estate discharged all its creditors before the assets were divided.
Borrowers who discharge their obligations early may pay less interest.
Similarsettle, pay, repay, satisfy, clear
Note
Here the person on the receiving end is the creditor, not the debtor. The object is the one owed, and discharging them means paying them off and ending their claim. Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice wants "the present money to discharge the Jew." The pattern survives in formal finance and estate language, where an estate discharges its creditors. Everyday speech would say pay off.
26
USDIS-charj/ˈdɪstʃɑɹdʒ/UKDIS-chahj/ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/
nouncountable or uncountable
The volume of water transported by a river in a given amount of time, usually measured in cubic meters per second.
Spring snowmelt doubled the river's discharge within a single week.
Hydrologists track discharge to predict downstream flooding.
Similarflow, streamflow
Note
For hydrologists, discharge is a rate, not an amount. It is the volume of water passing a cross-section of a river each second, usually given in cubic meters per second. It is calculated by multiplying the channel's cross-sectional area by the mean flow velocity. That is why a narrow, fast stream can carry as much as a broad, slow one.
27
verbtransitive
To set aside, annul, or dismiss something, such as a legal order or ruling.
The appeal court moved to discharge the injunction.
Lawyers asked the judge to discharge the summons.
Similarquash, lift, annul, dismiss, revoke
Oppositeuphold, grant
28
verbobsoleteScotland
To prohibit something or forbid someone from doing it.
Note
An obsolete Scottish sense that runs almost opposite to the modern word: where discharge usually frees, here it forbids. A reader of older Scottish texts should weigh each instance carefully. An authority that "discharged" something may have been banning it rather than releasing anyone. In new writing, forbid or prohibit says this without confusion.
29
noun
Release from liability granted to someone who has served in a position of trust, such as a company's officers or governors.
30
verb
To release an auxiliary assumption from the list of assumptions in an argument and return to the main line of reasoning.
31
verb
To bleach out or remove color or marks from a material by a chemical process.

Practice

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Origin

This comes from Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier ("to unload"), which came from Late Latin discarricāre ("to unload"). It can be seen as dis- plus charge.