Adjacent Words

Dispose definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISPOSE, v.t. dispoze. [L.]
1. To set; to place or distribute; to arrange; used with reference to order. The ships were disposed in the form of a crescent. The general disposed his troops in three lines. The trees are disposed in the form of a quincunx.
2. To regulate; to adjust; to set in right order. Job 34 and 37.
The knightly forms of combat to dispose.
3. To apply to a particular purpose; to give; to place; to bestow; as, you have disposed much in works of public piety. In this sense, to dispose of is more generally used.
4. To set, place or turn to a particular end or consequence.
Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose to future good our past and present woes.
5. To adapt; to form for any purpose.
Then must thou thee dispose another way.
6. To set the mind in a particular frame; to incline. Avarice disposes men to fraud and oppression.
Suspicions dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy.
He was disposed to pass into Achaia. Acts 18. 1 Cor
10:27.
To dispose of,
1. To part with; to alienate; as, the man has disposed of his house, and removed.
2. To part with to another; to put into anothers hand or power; to bestow; as, the father has disposed of his daughter to a man of great worth.
3. To give away or transfer by authority.
A rural judge disposed of beautys prize.
4. To direct the course of a thing. Proverbs 16.
5. To place in any condition; as, how will you dispose of your son?
6. To direct what to do or what course to pursue; as, they know not how to dispose of themselves.
7. To use or employ; as, they know not how to dispose of their time.
8. To put away. The stream supplies more water than can be disposed of.
DISPOSE, v.i. To bargain; to make terms.
DISPOSE, n.
1. Disposal; power of disposing; management.
2. Dispensation; act of government.
3. Disposition; cast of behavior.
4. Disposition; cast of mind; inclination.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: give, sell, or transfer to another; "She disposed of her parents' possessions"
2: throw or cast away; "Put away your worries" [syn: discard, fling, toss, toss out, toss away, chuck out, cast aside, dispose, throw out, cast out, throw away, cast away, put away]
3: make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief; "Their language inclines us to believe them" [syn: dispose, incline] [ant: disincline, indispose]
4: place or put in a particular order; "the dots are unevenly disposed"
5: make fit or prepared; "Your education qualifies you for this job" [syn: qualify, dispose] [ant: disqualify, indispose, unfit]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (disposed; disposing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French desposer, from Latin disponere to arrange (perfect indicative disposui), from dis- + ponere to put — more at position Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to give a tendency to ; incline <faulty diet disposes one to sickness> 2. a. to put in place ; set in readiness ; arrange <disposing troops for withdrawal> b. obsolete regulate c. bestow intransitive verb 1. to settle a matter finally 2. obsolete to come to terms Synonyms: see incline • disposer noun II. noun Date: 1590 1. obsolete disposal 2. obsolete a. disposition b. demeanor

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. (usu. foll. by to, or to + infin.) a make willing; incline (disposed him to the idea; was disposed to release them). b give a tendency to (the wheel was disposed to buckle). 2 tr. place suitably or in order (disposed the pictures in sequence). 3 tr. (as disposed adj.) have a specified mental inclination (usu. in comb. : ill-disposed). 4 intr. determine the course of events (man proposes, God disposes). Phrases and idioms: dispose of 1 a deal with. b get rid of. c finish. d kill. 2 sell. 3 prove (a claim, an argument, an opponent, etc.) to be incorrect. 4 consume (food). Derivatives: disposer n. Etymology: ME f. OF disposer (as DIS-, POSE(1)) after L disponere disposit-

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dispose Dis*pose", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Disposed; p. pr. & vb. n. Disposing.] [F. disposer; pref. dis- + poser to place. See Pose.] 1. To distribute and put in place; to arrange; to set in order; as, to dispose the ships in the form of a crescent. Who hath disposed the whole world? --Job xxxiv. 13. All ranged in order and disposed with grace. --Pope. The rest themselves in troops did else dispose. --Spenser. 2. To regulate; to adjust; to settle; to determine. The knightly forms of combat to dispose. --Dryden. 3. To deal out; to assign to a use; to bestow for an object or purpose; to apply; to employ; to dispose of. Importuned him that what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor. --Evelyn. 4. To give a tendency or inclination to; to adapt; to cause to turn; especially, to incline the mind of; to give a bent or propension to; to incline; to make inclined; -- usually followed by to, sometimes by for before the indirect object. Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose To future good our past and present woes. --Dryden. Suspicions dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy. --Bacon. To dispose of. (a) To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. Freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons. --Locke. (b) To exercise finally one's power of control over; to pass over into the control of some one else, as by selling; to alienate; to part with; to relinquish; to get rid of; as, to dispose of a house; to dispose of one's time. More water . . . than can be disposed of. --T. Burnet. I have disposed of her to a man of business. --Tatler. A rural judge disposed of beauty's prize. --Waller. Syn: To set; arrange; order; distribute; adjust; regulate; adapt; fit; incline; bestow; give.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dispose Dis*pose", v. i. To bargain; to make terms. [Obs.] She had disposed with C[ae]sar. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dispose Dis*pose", n. 1. Disposal; ordering; management; power or right of control. [Obs.] But such is the dispose of the sole Disposer of empires. --Speed. 2. Cast of mind; disposition; inclination; behavior; demeanor. [Obs.] He hath a person, and a smooth dispose To be suspected. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(disposes, disposing, disposed) • dispose of 1. If you dispose of something that you no longer want or need, you throw it away. ...the safest means of disposing of nuclear waste... PHRASAL VERB: V P n 2. If you dispose of a problem, task, or question, you deal with it. You did us a great favour by disposing of that problem... = resolve PHRASAL VERB: V P n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Arrange, range, rank, group, marshal, set, place, place in order. 2. Adjust, regulate, settle, determine, set right. 3. Incline, lead, move, induce, bias, predispose. II. v. n. 1. Control, regulate, rule, settle, decide. 2. Bargain, compound, make terms, arrange, have an understanding.

Moby Thesaurus

adjust, administer, affect, aim, align, allocate, allot, apportion, arrange, array, assign, bear, bend, bend to, bestow, bias, bring, call the shots, carry, collocate, color, compose, conclude, conduce, consume, contribute, control, cool off, deal, deal out, deal with, decide, demolish, deploy, destroy, determine, devour, direct, disburse, discard, dispense, disperse, dispose of, distribute, do away with, dole, dole out, dump, eat, emplace, engage, enlist, finish off, fix, form, get a fix, get rid of, get to do, give away, give out, go, govern, grade, group, guide, harmonize, have a tendency, head, hierarchize, hold a heading, home in on, incline, induce, influence, install, interest in, issue, jettison, junk, knock off, lay out, lead, lean, line, line up, localize, locate, look to, lure, make over, marshal, measure out, mete, mete out, methodize, motivate, move, navigate, normalize, order, organize, pacify, parcel out, part with, pass around, pay out, persuade, pin down, pinpoint, place, point, point to, polish off, portion out, position, predispose, procure, prompt, put, put away, put in place, quiet, rally, range, rank, redound to, regiment, regularize, regulate, routinize, rule, scrap, sell, serve, set, set out, set toward, set up, settle, show a tendency, situate, soften up, space, spoon out, spot, standardize, steer, structure, sway, systematize, tempt, tend, tend to go, throw away, throw out, tinge, tone, tranquilize, transfer, trash, trend, triangulate, turn, urge, verge, warp, wear down, wear the pants, weigh with, work, work toward, zero in on