dispose

From French disposer.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈpoʊz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspəʊz/

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• Rhymes: -əʊz

dispose (third-person singular simple present disposes, present participle disposing, simple past and past participle disposed)

1. (intransitive, used with "of") To eliminate or to get rid of something.

   I dispose of my trash in the garbage can.

2. To distribute or arrange; to put in place.
   • 1599, 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 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Now, dear soldiers, march away: / And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 20599507:

     Marianne’s pianoforte was unpacked and properly disposed of, and Elinor’s drawing were affixed to the walls of their sitting rooms.

   • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, →ISBN, page 47:

     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 […] .

3. To deal out; to assign to a use.
   • 1818 (first published), John Evelyn, diary entry for 1634

     what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor

4. To incline.

   In these uncertain times, I am disposed towards caution.

   (Used here intransitively in the passive voice)

   • 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 403869432:

     Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose / To future good our past and present woes.

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Suspicion”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:

     They [suspicions] dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy.

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     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.

5. (obsolete) To bargain; to make terms.
   • 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 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     She had disposed with Caesar.

6. (obsolete) To regulate; to adjust; to settle; to determine.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:

     the knightly forms of combat to dispose

• incline
• discard

• indispose
• disincline

• disposition
• disposal
• dispose of

dispose

1. (obsolete) The disposal or management of something.
   • 1680, John Bunyan, The Life and Death of Mr Badman:

     By thus doing, he submits himself to God's rod, commits himself to the dispose of his providence; yea, by thus doing, he casteth the lot of his present and future condition into the lap of his creditors, and leaves the whole dispose thereof to the Lord […]

2. (obsolete) Behaviour; disposition.

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dispose

1. inflection of disposer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

dispose

1. third-person singular past historic of disporre

• dispeso