dispense
To issue, distribute, or give outTo issue, distribute, or give out.
Recorded: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Why don't we dispense with formalities?
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
4 languagesBy meaning 4
Examples
23 sentencesWhy don't we dispense with formalities?
Let's dispense with formalities.
ruДавайте без церемоний. — Ooneykcall
deLassen wir die Förmlichkeiten ruhig sein! — Pfirsichbaeumchen
We cannot dispense with the rainforests.
Meaning
5 sensesTo issue, distribute, or give out.
ausgeben, austeilen, verteilen
To supply or make up a medicine or prescription.
The pharmacist dispensed my tablets.
An optician can dispense spectacles.
dosieren, ausstellen
To apply, as laws to particular cases; to administer; to execute; to manage; to direct.
to dispense justice
More meanings 2
To give a dispensation to (someone); to excuse.
Every spring, the passive aggressive archbishop suffered from a brief flu that dispensed him from needing to provide Easter service to the king.
She was dispensed from her vows and married Captain von Trapp.
entschuldigen
(intransitive, obsolete)To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
wiedergutmachen
- administer or bestow, as in small portions
- grant a dispensation; grant an exemption
- give or apply (medications)
Origin
From Middle English, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre (“to weigh out, payFrom 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
dispenses, dispensing, dispensed, dispensedTenses
dispense · dispensed · will dispense · have dispensedPoint at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.
Synonyms
11 synonyms- administer or bestow, as in small portions:distributeadministermete outdealparcel outlotshell outdeal out
- give or apply (medications):administer
Word family
13 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.