dispose
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪsˈpoʊz/
ipa: /dɪˈspəʊz/
rhymes: -əʊz
Forms: form: disposes
form: disposing
form: disposed
form: disposed
Etymology: From French disposer.
Senses: examples: text: I dispose of my trash in the garbage can.
glosses: To eliminate or to get rid of something.
examples: text: Now, dear soldiers, march away: / And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!
ref: 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
text: Marianne’s pianoforte was unpacked and properly disposed of, and Elinor’s drawing were affixed to the walls of their sitting rooms.
ref: 1811, [Jane Austen], Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
text: I sat down within three feet of the entrance door, and I had no sooner got disposed than the door opened and a man came in[…].
ref: 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 47:
text: By disposing the driving power over a number of cars instead of concentrating it in a single locomotive a great advance was made towards a high rate of acceleration.
ref: 1950 September, “Central London Railway Jubilee”, in Railway Magazine, page 620:
glosses: To distribute or arrange; to put in place.
examples: text: what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor
ref: 1818 (first published), John Evelyn, diary entry for 1634
glosses: To deal out; to assign to a use.
examples: text: In these uncertain times, I am disposed towards caution.
text: Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose / To future good our past and present woes.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: They [suspicions] dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy.
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Suspicion”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
text: At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly[…]on the floor.
ref: 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To incline.
examples: text: She had disposed with Caesar.
ref: 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
glosses: To bargain; to make terms.
examples: text: the knightly forms of combat to dispose
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To regulate; to adjust; to settle; to determine.
Synonyms: incline
discard
Derived terms: disposability
disposable
disposal
disposement
dispose of
disposition
disposophobia
foredispose
misdispose
redispose