discharge meaning
- The sudden giving off of energy
- The act of venting
- venting - A substance that is emitted or released
- emission - Any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body
"the discharge of pus"
- emission, expelling - Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field
- spark, arc, electric arc, electric discharge - The pouring forth of a fluid
- outpouring, run - The termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
- dismissal, dismission, firing, liberation, release, sack, sacking, heave-ho - A formal written statement of relinquishment
- release, waiver - The act of discharging a gun
- firing, firing off
- Complete or carry out
"discharge one's duties"
- dispatch, complete - Pour forth or release
"discharge liquids" - Free from obligations or duties
- free - Remove the charge from
- Go off or discharge
- fire, go off - Pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
- acquit, assoil, clear, exonerate, exculpate - Eliminate (a substance)
- exhaust, expel, eject, release - Leave or unload
- drop, drop off, set down, put down, unload - Cause to go off
- fire - Release from military service
- muster out - Become empty or void of its content
- empty
Derived forms: discharging, discharged, discharges
Type of: accomplish, action, activity, bodily function, bodily process, body process, carry out, carry through, change state, conclusion, deliver, distribute, electrical conduction, emanation, emission, ending, execute, flow, flowing, fulfil [Brit, Cdn], fulfill [N. Amer], happening, judge, label, let go, let go of, material, natural event, occurrence, occurrent, pronounce, release, relinquish, relinquishing, relinquishment, remove, shooting, shot, spread, stuff, take, take away, termination, turn, withdraw
Encyclopedia: Discharge
[Business]
AmE / verb, noun
■ verb [+ obj]
1 (usually be discharged)
to give sb official permission to leave a place or job; to make sb leave a job:
She was discharged from the police force for bad conduct.
to be discharged from hospital
2 (formal)
to do everything that is necessary to perform and complete a particular duty or task:
to discharge your duties/obligations/responsibilities
to discharge a debt/liability (= to finish paying back money you owe)
3 (formal)
to free sb from a particular duty or responsibility:
The judge discharged the jury from reaching a decision.
4 (Law )
to officially allow a bankrupt person to stop paying back their debts and do business again:
First-time bankrupts are discharged automatically after three years.
Discharged bankrupts often have difficulty gaining credit.
■ noun
1 Law [U,C]
the act of officially allowing sb, or of telling sb, to leave a job or a place
: (AmE) The fired employees sued for unlawful discharge.
Shareholders voted on the discharge of the members of the Board (= of directors).
She was medically fit for discharge from hospital.
2 (formal) [U]
the act of performing a task or a duty or of paying an amount of money that is owed:
the discharge of a contract (= doing everything that you were required to do)
◆ the discharge of debts/liabilities/duties
Arrangements have been made for the discharge of mortgage payments.
money paid in discharge of a claim
3 (Law ) [U]
the official act of allowing a person who is bankrupt to stop paying their debts and do business again:
applying to court for the discharge of a bankrupt
The government wants to reduce the discharge period from three years to 12 months.
4 [C,U]
an act of releasing a substance such as a liquid or gas into the environment:
a project to reduce discharges of hazardous waste
the discharge of chemicals into rivers
5 (Transport ) [U]
the act of removing goods or passengers from a ship that has arrived at a port:
the port of discharge (= where the goods are being sent)
[Economics]
To release a person from a binding legal obligation by agreement, by the performance of an obligation, or by law. For example, the payment of a debt discharges the debt; similarly, a judicial decision that a contract is frustrated discharges the parties from performing it.
[Electronics]
The emptying or draining of electricity from a source, such as a battery or capacitor. The term also denotes a sudden, heavy flow of current, as in DISRUPTIVE DISCHARGE. Compare CHARGE.
[Law]
n. Release from an obligation, debt, or liability, particularly the following. 1. Discharge of contract.
2. The release of a debtor from all provable debts (with minor exceptions) at the end of bankruptcy proceedings. In certain circumstances discharge is automatic. In other cases, the debtor or the official receiver may apply to the court for an order of discharge. This may be subject to conditions, such as further payments by the debtor to his creditors out of his future income, or it may be suspended until the creditors receive a higher proportion of the amount due to them. After discharge the debtor is freed from most of the disabilities to which he was subject as an undischarged bankrupt.
3. The release of a convicted defendant without imposing a punishment on him. A discharge may be absolute or conditional. In an absolute discharge the defendant is not punished for the offence. His conviction may, however, be accompanied by a compensation order or by endorsement of his driving licence or disqualification from driving. A conditional discharge also releases the defendant without punishment, provided that he is not convicted of any other offence within a specified period (usually three years). If he is convicted within that time, the court may sentence him for the original offence as well. Three conditions are required for the court to order a discharge:
(1) that a community rehabilitation order is not appropriate;
(2)that the punishment for the offence must not be fixed by law; and
(3) that the court thinks it inadvisable to punish the defendant in the circumstances.
Examples
More: Next- redundancies are one element in discharges.
- kennedy frequently discharged his rifle.
- the members of the jury were discharged.
- the gun discharged into the ground.
- product solids are discharged continuously.
