DISCHARGE, v.t.

1. An unloading, as of a ship; as, the discharge of a cargo.
2. A throwing out; vent; emission; applied to a fluid, a flowing or issuing out, or a throwing out; as, the discharge of water from a spring, or from a spout; applied to fire-arms, an explosion; as, a discharge of cannon.
3. That which is thrown out; matter emitted; as, a thin serous discharge; a purulent discharge.
4. Dismission from office or service; or the writing which evidences the dismission. The general, the soldier, obtains a discharge.
5. Release from obligation, debt or penalty; or the writing which is evidence of it; an acquittance; as, the debtor has a discharge.
6. Absolution from a crime or accusation; acquittance. – South.
7. Ransom; liberation; price paid for deliverance. Milton.
8. Performance; execution; applied to an office, trust or duty. A good man is faithful in the discharge of his duties, public and private.
9. Liberation; release from imprisonment or other confinement.
10. Exemption; escape. There is no discharge in that war. – Eccles. viii.
11. Payment, as of a debt.

To break up. The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. – Bacon.

1. To unload, as a ship; to take out, as a cargo; applied both to the ship and the loading. We say, to discharge a ship; but more generally, to discharge a cargo or the lading of the ship.
2. To free from any load or burden; to throw off or exonerate; as discharged of business. – Dryden.
3. To throw off a load or charge; to let fly; to shoot; applied to fire-arms, as to discharge a pistol or a cannon; or to discharge a ball or grape-shot.
4. To pay; as, to discharge a debt, a bond, a note.
5. To send away, as a creditor by payment of what is due to him. He discharged his creditors.
6. To free from claim or demand; to give an acquittance to, or a receipt in full, as to a debtor. The creditor discharged his debtor.
7. To free from an obligation; as, to discharge a man from further duty or service; to discharge a surety.
8. To clear from an accusation or crime; to acquit; to absolve; to set free; with of; as, to discharge a man of all blame. – Hooker.
9. To throw off or out; to let fly; to give vent to; as, to discharge a horrible oath; to discharge fury or vengeance. – Shak. Pope.
10. To perform or execute, as a duty or office considered as a charge. One man discharges the office of a sherif; another that of a priest. We are all bound to discharge the duties of piety, of benevolence and charity.
11. To divest of an office or employment; to dismiss from service; as, to discharge a steward or a servant; to discharge a soldier or seaman; to discharge a jury.
12. To dismiss; to release; to send away from any business or appointment. Discharge your powers to their several counties. – Shak.
13. To emit or send out; as, an ulcer discharges pus; a pipe discharges water.
14. To release; to liberate from confinement; as, to discharge a prisoner.
15. To put away; to remove; to clear from; to destroy. In general, to throw off any load or encumbrance; to free or clear.

1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a vessel.
2. To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload; to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the water pipe discharges freely.
   
   

   The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. Bacon.

3. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo.
4. The equalization of a difference of electric potential between two points. The character of the discharge is mostly determined by the nature of the medium through which it takes place, the amount of the difference of potential, and the form of the terminal conductors on which the difference exists. The discharge may be alternating, continuous, brush, connective, disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc.
5. To free of the missile with which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar.
   
   

   The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city. Knolles.

   Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions. H. Spencer.

6. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.
7. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear.
   
   

   Discharged of business, void of strife. Dryden.

   In one man's fault discharge another man of his duty. L'Estrange.

8. Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation, etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor.
9. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
   
   

   Discharge the common sort
   With pay and thanks. Shak.

   Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see. Milton.

10. Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation, liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt, or the performance of a trust or duty.
    
    

    Indefatigable in the discharge of business. Motley.

    Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L'Estrange.

11. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner.
12. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer.
13. To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as, to discharge a cargo.
14. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner.
15. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
    
    

    They do discharge their shot of courtesy. Shak.

16. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
    
    

    Too secure of our discharge
    From penalty. Milton.

17. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
    
    

    We say such an order was "discharged on appeal." Mozley *** W.

    The order for Daly's attendance was discharged. Macaulay.

18. That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document.
    
    

    Death, who sets all free,
    Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton.

19. To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt] to relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or execute, as an office, or part.
    
    

    Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large
    As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden.

20. A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation; also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid discharge of water from the pipe.
    
    

    The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge. S. Sharp.

    Charge and discharge. (Equity Practice) See under Charge, n. -- Paralytic discharge (Physiol.), the increased secretion from a gland resulting from the cutting of all of its nerves.

21. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    If he had
    The present money to discharge the Jew. Shak.

22. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as, to discharge a horrible oath.
23. To prohibit; to forbid.
    
    
    [Scot. Obs.] Sir W. Scott.

    Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, or other opening, to distribute the pressure of the wall above. See Illust. of Lintel. -- Discharging piece, Discharging strut (Arch.), a piece set to carry thrust or weight to a solid point of support. -- Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery. See Discharger.

    Syn. -- See Deliver.