Meaning & use
discharge
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To officially let someone leave a hospital, a job, the armed forces or a court case.
Grammar: Usually passive for people: the patient was discharged on Friday.
Patterns
- discharge someone from something
The hospital discharged her two days after the operation.
He was discharged from the army for health reasons.
The judge discharged the jury after the verdict.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To let a liquid, gas or electric charge flow out or be released.
Grammar: With an object: the factory discharged waste. Without: the battery discharged overnight.
Patterns
- discharge something into something
The factory discharged waste into the river.
The battery discharges slowly when not in use.
The cloud discharged a bolt of lightning.
verbtransitiveformal
To do something that you are responsible for, or to pay a debt.
Grammar: The object is a duty or debt: discharge your obligations.
Patterns
- discharge a duty
- discharge a debt
The manager discharged her duties with great care.
He discharged his debt in monthly payments.
The executor discharged the terms of the will.
nouncountable or uncountable
A liquid or other substance that flows out of a place or a body.
Grammar: Used with of: a discharge of waste water; in medicine it names fluid from the body.
Patterns
- discharge from something
- a discharge of something
Doctors checked the discharge from the wound.
The plant was fined for the toxic discharge into the stream.
Look for a clear nasal discharge.
nouncountable or uncountable
Official permission to leave a hospital, military service or similar, or the document giving it.
Grammar: Often with from: a discharge from the navy.
Patterns
- a discharge from something
- receive a discharge
He received an honorable discharge from the navy.
The patient is waiting for discharge papers.
Her discharge from hospital was delayed by a fever.
nouncountable or uncountablephysics
The release of stored electricity, such as a spark or a drained battery.
Grammar: Used in physics and electronics: an electrical discharge.
Patterns
- an electrical discharge
A static discharge shocked my fingers.
Lightning is a large electrical discharge.
The device protects against sudden discharge.
Word forms
| third person singular | discharges |
|---|---|
| past tense | discharged |
| past participle | discharged |
| -ing form | discharging |
| plural | discharges |
Common combinations
- discharge a patient
- The hospital will discharge the patient today.
- honorable discharge
- He left the army with an honorable discharge.
- discharge a duty
- She discharged her duties well.
- discharge into the river
- The mill discharged waste into the river.
- electrical discharge
- An electrical discharge lit the sky.
- discharge papers
- Please sign the discharge papers at the desk.
Synonyms and how they differ
- release
- Release is the broadest word and fits prisoners and animals too, while discharge suggests an official process in a hospital or the military.
- dismiss
- Dismiss is the usual word for firing someone or sending them away, while discharge stresses formally ending their time under care or service.
- emit
- Emit suits light, sound or gas and has no sense of official release, whereas discharge also suits liquids and electricity.
- fulfill
- Fulfill is a warmer word for carrying out a promise, while discharge a duty sounds formal and businesslike.
Opposites
Word family
- discharged adjective
- released from service or care, or drained of charge
- dischargeable adjective
- able to be released or cleared, as of a debt
- undischarged adjective
- not yet released or paid off, as in an undischarged bankrupt
- charge verb
- the root verb, as in to load or fill with electricity
Commonly confused: discharge or dismiss?
discharge vs dismiss
Dismiss usually means to remove someone from a job or send them away, while discharge also covers leaving hospital or the military. Discharge sounds more official and less hostile.
Practice
After a week of treatment, the doctor said she could be ____ from the hospital.
Choose one answer.
Discharged means officially allowed to leave. Dispatched means sent off, dismantled means taken apart, and displaced means forced from a place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “discharge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.