discharge

UK: verb: /dɪsˈtʃɑː^rdʒ/, noun: /ˈdɪstʃɑː^rdʒ/

US: /v. dɪsˈtʃɑrdʒ; n. ˈdɪstʃɑrdʒ, dɪsˈtʃɑrdʒ/

US: (v. dis chärj′; n. dis′chärj, dis chärj′)

Inflections of 'discharge' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

discharges

v 3rd person singular

discharging

v pres p

discharged

v past

discharged

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

dis•charge /v. dɪsˈtʃɑrdʒ; n. ˈdɪstʃɑrdʒ, dɪsˈtʃɑrdʒ/   v., -charged, -charg•ing, n. 
v. 

1. to release or send away:
   [~ + object (+ from + object)] They discharged him from prison.
2. to fulfill or do (a duty, etc.):
   [~ + object] He was no longer able to discharge his duties faithfully.
3. to take away the employment of;
   dismiss (someone) from service:
   [~ + object] His boss discharged him because of his absences.
4. to pay (a debt):
   [~ + object] discharging all his debts.
5. Military to (cause to) fire, go off, or shoot (a gun): [~ + object]
   In crowded places the police should not discharge their weapons.
   [no object]
   The weapon discharged when it hit the ground.
6. to pour forth: [no object]
   The oil was discharging from the tanker at the rate of thousands of gallons an hour.
   [~ + object]
   The tanker was discharging thousands of gallons of oil.
7. Electricity to (cause to) lose or give up a charge of electricity: [no object]
   The weakened battery was no longer discharging.
   [~ + object]
   It can't discharge electricity if it's not connected properly.
8. to remove or send forth (from);
   unload:
   [~ + object] to discharge a ship.

n. 

9. Military [countable] the act of firing a weapon.
10. Hydraulics a sending or coming forth:
    [uncountable] to halt further discharge of waste into the river.
    [countable] a discharge of five million tons of crude oil.
11. something sent forth or emitted:
    [uncountable] a lot of discharge from the wound.
12. Military
    • a release or dismissal:
      [countable] an honorable discharge from the army.
      [uncountable] discharge of several employees.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

dis•charge  (v. dis chärj′;n. dis′chärj, dis chärj′), v., -charged, -charg•ing, n. 
v.t. 

1. to relieve of a charge or load;
   unload:
   to discharge a ship.
2. to remove or send forth:
   They discharged the cargo at New York.
3. Military to fire or shoot (a firearm or missile):
   to discharge a gun.
4. to pour forth;
   emit:
   to discharge oil; to discharge a stream of invective.
5. to relieve oneself of (an obligation, burden, etc.).
6. to relieve of obligation, responsibility, etc.
7. to fulfill, perform, or execute (a duty, function, etc.).
8. to relieve or deprive of office, employment, etc.;
   dismiss from service.
9. to release, send away, or allow to go (often fol. by from):
   The children were discharged early from school. They discharged him from prison.
10. to pay (a debt).
11. Law
    • to release (a defendant, esp. one under confinement).
    • to release (a bankrupt) from former debts.
    • to cancel (a contract).
    • to release (bail).
12. Government (in a legislative body) to order (a committee) to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.
13. Electricity to rid (a battery, capacitor, etc.) of a charge of electricity.
14. Textiles [Dyeing.] to free from a dye, as by chemical bleaching.

v.i. 

15. to get rid of a burden or load.
16. to deliver a charge or load.
17. to pour forth.
18. Military to go off or fire, as a firearm or missile.
19. Textiles to blur or run, as a color or dye.
20. Electricity to lose or give up a charge of electricity.

n. 

21. the act of discharging a ship, load, etc.
22. Military the act of firing a weapon, as an arrow by drawing and releasing the string of the bow, or a gun by exploding the charge of powder.
23. Hydraulics a sending or coming forth, as of water from a pipe;
    ejection;
    emission.
24. the rate or amount of such issue.
25. something sent forth or emitted.
26. a relieving, ridding, or getting rid of something of the nature of a charge.
27. Law
    • an acquittal or exoneration.
    • an annulment, as of a court order.
    • the freeing of one held under legal process.
28. a relieving or being relieved of obligation or liability;
    fulfillment of an obligation.
29. the payment of a debt.
30. a release or dismissal, as from prison, an office, or employment.
31. a certificate of such a release or a certificate of release from obligation or liability.
32. Government the act or process of ordering a legislative committee to cease further consideration of a bill so that it can be voted on.
33. Military
    • the separation of a person from military service.
    • a certificate of such separation.
34. Electricity
    • the removal or transference of an electric charge, as by the conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy.
    • the equalization of a difference of potential, as between two terminals.

• Late Latin discarricāre, equivalent. to dis- dis-¹ + carricāre to load; see charge
• Anglo-French descharger, Old French
• Middle English deschargen 1300–50

dis•charge′a•ble, adj. 
dis•charg′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. unburden, disburden.
• 4. expel, eject, exude.
• 6. See release. 
• 7. See perform. 
• 8. cashier, fire, remove.
• 9. dismiss, expel.
• 10. settle, liquidate.
• 22. detonation, shooting.
• 28. execution, performance.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

discharge verb / dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/

1. (transitive) to release or allow to go
2. (transitive) to dismiss from or relieve of duty, office, employment, etc
3. to fire or be fired, as a gun
4. to pour forth or cause to pour forth: the boil discharges pus
5. (transitive) to remove (the cargo) from (a boat, etc); unload
6. (transitive) to perform (the duties of) or meet (the demands of an office, obligation, etc)
7. (transitive) to relieve oneself of (a responsibility, debt, etc)
8. (intransitive) to lose or remove electric charge
9. to form an arc, spark, or corona in a gas
10. to take or supply electrical current from a cell or battery
11. (transitive) to release (a prisoner from custody, etc)

noun / ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/

1. a person or thing that is discharged
2. dismissal or release from an office, job, institution, etc
3. the document certifying such release
4. the fulfilment of an obligation or release from a responsibility or liability
5. the act of removing a load, as of cargo
6. a pouring forth of a fluid; emission
7. the act of firing a projectile
8. the volley, bullet, missile, etc, fired
9. a release, as of a person held under legal restraint
10. an annulment, as of a court order
11. the act or process of removing or losing charge or of equalizing a potential difference
12. a transient or continuous conduction of electricity through a gas by the formation and movement of electrons and ions in an applied electric field

disˈchargeable adjective

disˈcharger noun