Dis*charge", v. t. (Textile Dyeing &
Printing) To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a
chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric
in order to form light figures on a dark ground.
Dis*charge", n. (Elec.) 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.
Dis*charge" (?), v. t. [imp. &
p. p. Discharged (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Discharging.] [OE. deschargen,
dischargen, OF. deschargier, F.
décharger; pref. des- (L. dis) +
chargier, F. charger. See Charge.]
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 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. To release legally from confinement; to
set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner.
6. 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.
7. To let fly, as a missile; to
shoot.
They do discharge their shot of
courtesy.
Shak.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
Dis*charge", v. i. 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.
Dis*charge", n. [Cf. F.
décharge. See Discharge, v.
t.] 1. 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.
2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge;
explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of
artillery.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Release or dismissal from an office,
employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman
by his employer.
6. Legal release from confinement;
liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner.
7. The state of being discharged or relieved
of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
Too secure of our discharge
From penalty.
Milton.
8. 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.
9. 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.
Dis*charge", v. t. (Textile Dyeing &
Printing) To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a
chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric
in order to form light figures on a dark ground.
Dis*charge", n. (Elec.) 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.
