dispatch
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish despachar and/or Italian dispacciare. Further etymology is uncertain. For first element des-, see dis-. Second element probably from either Vulgar Latin *pactāre (“to fasten"”), *pactiare or Latin -pedicāre (“to entrap, shackle”), from pedica, from pēs. Ultimately related to impeach through shared Latin root. The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident.
Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).
Affixes: des-
Inflected forms:
form: dispatches
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: dispatching
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: dispatched
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: dispatched
pos: verb
tags: past
form: depeche
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: despatch
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Australia
UK
form: dispatches
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: depeche
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: despatch
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Australia
UK
Senses:
gloss: To send (a shipment) with promptness.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To send (a person) away hastily.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The League of One was suddenly exposed and in danger of being hunted by enemies of the salarians. Before any harm could be done, the team mysteriously disappeared.[...]Realizing the threat posed by this rogue outfit, the Special Tasks Group dispatched a team of hunters. When they didn't return, the STG dispatched ten of its brightest operators with broad discretionary powers. Only two returned; they reported no evidence of the League.
gloss: To send (an important official message) promptly, by means of a diplomat or military officer.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To send (a journalist) to a place in order to report.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Scores of foreign journalists have been dispatched to Seoul to report on the growing tensions between the two Koreas and the possibility of war.
gloss: To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we / The business we have talk'd of.
the which company of harvest men, being ready at the day appointed, almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work.
gloss: To eat, especially quickly.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To rid; to free.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: But whā I had cleane diſpatched myſelf of this great charge and taſke, I loked not that I ſhould at any tyme afterwarde have any more to doe with this kynde of writing
gloss: To destroy (someone or something) quickly and efficiently.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: "And our dogs used to tree the cats on our property here, and we'd dispatch them."
So Tyrion hatches one last brilliant scheme in a season full of them, and this one goes exactly as well as all the others, even if it doesn’t look like it at first. He alone takes a meeting with Cersei, in her chambers, with the Mountain ready and waiting to dispatch him.
gloss: To defeat
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Gareth Southgate's side had little trouble dispatching the side 172nd in the Fifa rankings.
gloss: To pass on for further processing, especially via a dispatch table (often with to).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: These handlers perform any additional checking and processing that may be necessary before and after a message is dispatched to an object. In addition, some message types are handled internally by the kernel[…]
gloss: To hurry.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: prithee, dispatch
“Proceed, friend Nicolas, and let us dispatch; for, it grows late.”
gloss: To deprive.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
gloss: A message sent quickly, as a shipment, a prompt settlement of a business, or an important official message sent by a diplomat, government official, military officer, etc.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.
gloss: The act of doing something quickly.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: We must act with dispatch in this matter.
During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]
A farmer could place an order for a new tractor part by text message and pay for it by mobile money-transfer. A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone.
gloss: A mission by an emergency response service, typically involving attending to an emergency in the field.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: The passing on of a message for further processing, especially through a dispatch table.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A dismissal.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
Synonyms: make haste
send
Related words: impeach
impede
Derived words: dispatchability
dispatchable
dispatchee
dispatcher
undispatch
undispatched
dispatch box
dispatch case
dispatchful
dispatch money
dispatch rider
dispatch table
dynamic dispatch
emergency dispatch center
happy dispatch
multidispatch
static dispatch
with dispatch
Translations:
lang: Finnish
word: tappaa
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: tilintetgjøre
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: ødelegge
lang: Russian
word: расправля́ться с
roman: raspravljátʹsja s
lang: Spanish
word: despacharse
lang: Swedish
word: omintetgöra