dismissal
Pluraldismissals
- 1The act or process of being fired from a job or stripped of rank or office.
The board approved the manager's dismissal following the financial scandal.
Union rules protect workers from dismissal without proper cause.
Similarfiring, sacking, discharge, termination, removal
Oppositehiring, appointment, employment
Note
Instant is a natural partner here. In Baroness Orczy's "The Hocussing of Cigarette" (1904–1905), an employer threatens any of his employés with instant dismissal if he is found in company with touts. The noun names a loss suffered rather than an action taken, so its subject is the person dismissed, and it sits comfortably beside words like grounds and cause.
- 2The act of sending a person away or telling them to leave.
The general's curt dismissal sent the messengers hurrying from the tent.
A wave of her hand served as dismissal, and the servants withdrew.
Oppositesummons
Note
A nineteenth-century coinage lies behind every sense of the word. It was formed from dismiss plus -al on the model of committal, and it displaced the regular form dismission. Here the person is sent from a room or a presence, as when messengers hurry from a tent or servants are waved off. That is where it parts from losing one's post.
- 3A court's rejection of a legal case, or of a claim or charge within it.
The defense moved for dismissal on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The court ordered the dismissal of the lawsuit after the plaintiff failed to appear.
Similarrejection
Note
Courtroom usage turns on one distinction. A dismissal with prejudice bars the claim from ever being refiled, while one without prejudice leaves it open to be brought again. A party asks for it by moving for dismissal. The ruling can end a whole action, or it can remove a single claim or charge while the rest of the case goes on.
- 4The act of putting something out of one's mind or refusing to give it consideration.
The committee's dismissal of the proposal frustrated researchers who had worked on it for months.
His casual dismissal of safety concerns worried the inspectors.
Similarrejection, disregard, rebuff, repudiation, brush-off
Oppositeacceptance, consideration, approval, acknowledgment
- 5A written or spoken statement announcing that someone has been dismissed or sent away.
His dismissal arrived by email, just two lines long.
The clerk handed each worker a formal dismissal signed by the director.
Similarnotice, notification
- 6Release from confinement or captivity; the act of setting a person free.
The general ordered the dismissal of the captives at dawn.
After the ceasefire, the dismissal of the detainees began immediately.
Similarrelease, liberation, freeing, discharge
Oppositedetention, capture, imprisonment
- 7The blessing with which a priest or minister brings a religious service to a close.
The choir sang as the minister pronounced the dismissal.
Worshippers crossed themselves at the dismissal before leaving the cathedral.
Similarbenediction, blessing
Note
Here the word belongs to the liturgy, not to the firing sense: it is the moment the congregation is blessed and formally sent out. In the Roman rite the words are the Latin Ite, missa est, traditionally said to have given English the word Mass. A minister pronounces or gives the dismissal, and the noun works both with an article (the dismissal) and without one.
- 8In cricket, the event of a batsman being put out; the fall of a wicket.
The bowler celebrated the dismissal of the opposing captain.
A sharp catch at slip brought about the dismissal of the last batter.
Similarwicket
Note
Cricket counts its outs one at a time, and each one is a dismissal, however it comes about: bowled, caught, run out, leg before wicket, stumped and others. Every dismissal costs the batting side a wicket and is usually credited to the bowler or a fielder. The word itself is neutral about the method, so the method has to be named alongside it.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of dismissal apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
A nineteenth-century coinage from "dismiss" plus the suffix "-al" (modelled on words like "committal"), which replaced the older regular form "dismission".