discharge
Other forms: discharged; discharging; discharges
To discharge is to fire a gun or an employee, or to set someone free from a hospital or jail. You'd probably like being discharged from jail, but not from your job, unless you really hate it.
As a verb, discharge is “to release,” and as a noun, it refers to the act of or setting free. You'd be discharged from the hospital once the discharge from your wound has stopped. Ew. The writer Ambrose Bierce jokingly defined emotion as "a prostrating disease caused by a determination of the heart to the head. It is sometimes accompanied by a copious discharge of hydrated chloride of sodium from the eyes.” Wouldn't want to cry in front of that guy!
Definitions of discharge
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remove the charge from
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leave or unload
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go off or discharge
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cause to go off
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synonyms:
fire
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types:
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pop
fire a weapon with a loud explosive noise
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let drive, let fly, loose off
fire as from a gun
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blast, shoot
fire a shot
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fusillade
attack with fusillade
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blaze, blaze away
shoot rapidly and repeatedly
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overshoot
shoot beyond or over (a target)
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sharpshoot, snipe
aim and shoot with great precision
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fire, open fire
start firing a weapon
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gun
shoot with a gun
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pump
deliver forth
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pour forth or release“discharge liquids”
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eject, force out, squeeze out, squirt
cause to come out in a squirt
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disperse, dot, dust, scatter, sprinkle
distribute loosely
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play
discharge or direct or be discharged or directed as if in a continuous stream
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volley
discharge in, or as if in, a volley
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spritz
eject (a liquid) quickly
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spray
scatter in a mass or jet of droplets
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spray
be discharged in sprays of liquid
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plash, spatter, splash, splatter, splosh, swash
dash a liquid upon or against
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splash, splosh, sprinkle
cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force
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extravasate
force out or cause to escape from a proper vessel or channel
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bespangle
dot or sprinkle with sparkling or glittering objects
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aerosolise, aerosolize
disperse as an aerosol
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type of:
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distribute, spread
distribute or disperse widely
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eliminate (a substance)
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cough out, cough up, expectorate, spit out, spit up
discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
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blow
free of obstruction by blowing air through
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abort
terminate a pregnancy by undergoing an abortion
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ovulate
produce and discharge eggs
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egest, eliminate, excrete, pass
eliminate from the body
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bleed, hemorrhage, shed blood
lose blood from one's body
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eruct, spew, spew out
eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical
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fester, maturate, suppurate
ripen and generate pus
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breathe, emit, pass off
expel (gases or odors)
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belch, bubble, burp, eruct
expel gas from the stomach
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force out
emit or cause to move with force of effort
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emanate, exhale, give forth
give out (breath or an odor)
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cough
exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion
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miscarry
suffer a miscarriage
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flow, menstruate
undergo menstruation
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perspire, sudate, sweat
excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
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exudate, exude, ooze, ooze out, transude
release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities
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urinate
pass after the manner of urine
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empty, evacuate, void
excrete or discharge from the body
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ca-ca, defecate, make, stool
have a bowel movement
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barf, be sick, chuck, disgorge, regurgitate, throw up, vomit, vomit up
eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
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ptyalise, ptyalize, spew, spit, spue
expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
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spit out, splutter, sputter
spit up in an explosive manner
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radiate
send out real or metaphoric rays
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bubble
form, produce, or emit bubbles
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become empty or void of its content
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free from obligations or duties
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synonyms:
free
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types:
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disinvest, divest
deprive of status or authority
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relieve, take over
free someone temporarily from his or her obligations
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cut
discharge from a group
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clear
free from payment of customs duties, as of a shipment
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cashier
discharge with dishonor, as in the army
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liberate, set free
grant freedom to
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disembroil, disentangle, disinvolve
free from involvement or entanglement
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dethrone
remove a monarch from the throne
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spell
relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn
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defrock, unfrock
remove from one's position in the church
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affranchise, enfranchise
grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude
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emancipate, manumit
free from slavery or servitude
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decolonise, decolonize
grant independence to (a former colony)
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pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
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release from military service
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synonyms:
muster out
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deactivate
remove from active military status or reassign
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demob, demobilise, demobilize
retire from military service
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demobilise, demobilize, inactivate
release from military service or remove from the active list of military service
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cannon
fire a cannon
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type of:
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let go, let go of, release, relinquish
release, as from one's grip
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complete or carry out“discharge one's duties”
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type of:
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accomplish, action, carry out, carry through, execute, fulfil, fulfill
put in effect
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accomplish, action, carry out, carry through, execute, fulfil, fulfill
Definitions of discharge
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the sudden giving off of energy
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electrical discharge
a discharge of electricity
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blowup, detonation, explosion
a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
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eruption, volcanic eruption
the sudden occurrence of a violent discharge of steam and volcanic material
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impulse, nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse
the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber
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spike
a transient variation in voltage or current
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Plinian eruption
a volcanic eruption in which a stream of gas and ash is violently ejected to a height of several miles
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airburst
an explosion in the atmosphere
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blast
an explosion (as of dynamite)
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backfire
a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine
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big bang
(cosmology) the cosmic explosion that is hypothesized to have marked the origin of the universe
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backfire, blowback
the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired
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fragmentation
the scattering of bomb fragments after the bomb explodes
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inflation
(cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang
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atmospheric electricity
electrical discharges in the atmosphere
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type of:
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happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent
an event that happens
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electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field
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synonyms:
arc, electric arc, electric discharge, spark
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types:
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brush discharge
discharge between electrodes creating visible streamers of ionized particles
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Saint Elmo's fire, Saint Elmo's light, Saint Ulmo's fire, Saint Ulmo's light, St. Elmo's fire, corona, corona discharge, corposant, electric glow
an electrical discharge accompanied by ionization of surrounding atmosphere
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flashover
an unintended electric discharge (as over or around an insulator)
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type of:
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electrical conduction
the passage of electricity through a conductor
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brush discharge
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the act of discharging a gun
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synonyms:
firing, firing off
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any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body“the discharge of pus”
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elimination, evacuation, excreting, excretion, voiding
the bodily process of discharging waste matter
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catamenia, flow, menses, menstruation, menstruum, period
the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause
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incontinence, incontinency
involuntary urination or defecation
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hypermenorrhea, menorrhagia
abnormally heavy or prolonged menstruation; can be a symptom of uterine tumors and can lead to anemia if prolonged
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micturition, urination
the discharge of urine
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oligomenorrhea
abnormally light or infrequent menstruation
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type of:
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activity, bodily function, bodily process, body process
an organic process that takes place in the body
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a substance that is emitted or released
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synonyms:
emission
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exudate, exudation
a substance that oozes out from plant pores
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transudate, transudation
a substance that transudes
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effluvium
a foul-smelling outflow or vapor (especially a gaseous waste)
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rheum
a watery discharge from the mucous membranes (especially from the eyes or nose)
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vaginal discharge
discharge of secretions from the cervical glands of the vagina; normally clear or white
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gum
any of various substances (soluble in water) that exude from certain plants; they are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying
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latex
a milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air
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the pouring forth of a fluid
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synonyms:
outpouring, run
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the act of venting
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a formal written statement of relinquishment
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exemption, granting immunity, immunity
an act exempting someone
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fix
an exemption granted after influence (e.g., money) is brought to bear
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official immunity
personal immunity accorded to a public official from liability to anyone injured by actions that are the consequence of exerting official authority
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sovereign immunity
an exemption that precludes bringing a suit against the sovereign government without the government's consent
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testimonial immunity, use immunity
an exemption that displaces the privilege against self-incrimination; neither compelled testimony or any fruits of it can be used against the witness who therefore can no longer fear self-incrimination
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type of:
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relinquishing, relinquishment
the act of giving up and abandoning a struggle or task etc.
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the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
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synonyms:
dismissal, dismission, firing, liberation, release, sack, sacking
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superannuation
the act of discharging someone because of age (especially to cause someone to retire from service on a pension)
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conge, congee
an abrupt and unceremonious dismissal
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removal
dismissal from office
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deactivation, inactivation
breaking up a military unit (by transfers or discharges)
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honorable discharge
a discharge from the armed forces with a commendable record
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dishonorable discharge
a discharge from the armed forces for a grave offense (as sabotage or espionage or cowardice or murder)
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Section Eight
a discharge from the US Army based on unfitness or character traits deemed undesirable
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purge
an abrupt or sudden removal of a person or group from an organization or place
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type of:
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conclusion, ending, termination
the act of ending something
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Vocabulary lists containing discharge
Multiple-Meaning Words, List 1
On the ACT Reading Test, you'll encounter questions that ask you to determine the meanings of common words in context. We've identified 170 high-frequency, multiple-meaning words of the sort that you'll see on the exam. As you practice this list, you'll have to rely on context clues in order to determine each word’s meaning in a particular sentence. Be careful! Several of a word's meanings might show up as answer choices — but only one answer will capture the meaning of the word in the context of the sentence.
Pax, Journey Home
Pax, a fox, reunites with Peter, the boy who once cared for him, though both are struggling in the aftermath of war.
Through My Eyes
In this memoir, Ruby Bridges recalls her experiences as the first African-American student at a newly desegregated elementary school in New Orleans.
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