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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharged of business, void of strife. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

In one man's fault discharge another man of his duty. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharge the common sort
With pay and thanks. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot. [ 1913 Webster ]

They do discharge their shot of courtesy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

We say such an order was “discharged on appeal.” Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

The order for Daly's attendance was discharged. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large
As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If he had
The present money to discharge the Jew. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To prohibit; to forbid. [ Scot. Obs. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Indefatigable in the discharge of business. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too secure of our discharge
From penalty. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death, who sets all free,
Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, discharges. Specifically, in electricity, an instrument for discharging a Leyden jar, or electrical battery, by making a connection between the two surfaces; a discharging rod. [ 1913 Webster ]