Library / English Dictionary

DISPATCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of sending off something

Synonyms:

despatch; dispatch; shipment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("dispatch" is a kind of...):

departure; going; going away; leaving (the act of departing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dispatch"):

reshipment (the act of shipping again (especially by transferring to another ship))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Killing a person or animal

Synonyms:

despatch; dispatch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("dispatch" is a kind of...):

kill; killing; putting to death (the act of terminating a life)

Derivation:

dispatch (kill without delay)

dispatch (kill intentionally and with premeditation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The property of being prompt and efficient

Example:

it was done with dispatch

Synonyms:

despatch; dispatch; expedition; expeditiousness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("dispatch" is a kind of...):

celerity; quickness; rapidity; rapidness; speediness (a rate that is rapid)

Derivation:

dispatch (dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An official report (usually sent in haste)

Synonyms:

communique; despatch; dispatch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("dispatch" is a kind of...):

account; news report; report; story; write up (a short account of the news)

Meronyms (parts of "dispatch"):

dateline (a line at the beginning of a news article giving the date and place of origin of the news dispatch)

Derivation:

dispatch (send away towards a designated goal)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Kill without delay

Example:

the traitor was dispatched by the conspirators

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "dispatch" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

dispatch (killing a person or animal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Send away towards a designated goal

Synonyms:

despatch; dispatch; send off

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "dispatch" is one way to...):

send; ship; transport (transport commercially)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dispatch"):

bundle off (send off unceremoniously)

route (send documents or materials to appropriate destinations)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They won't dispatch the story

Derivation:

dispatch (an official report (usually sent in haste))

dispatcher (employee of a transportation company who controls the departures of vehicles according to weather conditions and in the interest of efficient service)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently

Example:

He dispatched the task he was assigned

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "dispatch" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

dispatch (the property of being prompt and efficient)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Kill intentionally and with premeditation

Example:

The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered

Synonyms:

bump off; dispatch; hit; murder; off; polish off; remove; slay

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "dispatch" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dispatch"):

burke (murder without leaving a trace on the body)

execute (murder in a planned fashion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot dispatch Sue

Derivation:

dispatch (killing a person or animal)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Complete or carry out

Example:

discharge one's duties

Synonyms:

complete; discharge; dispatch

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "dispatch" is one way to...):

accomplish; action; carry out; carry through; execute; fulfil; fulfill (put in effect)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Jo rather prided herself upon her shopping capabilities, and particularly wished to impress her escort with the neatness and dispatch with which she would accomplish the business.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

We laid him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have just received my dispatches, and taken my farewell of Allenham; and by way of exhilaration I am now come to take my farewell of you.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The two houses were only a quarter of a mile apart; and, as they walked, Mrs. Morland quickly dispatched all that she felt on the score of James's disappointment.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Sir Thomas sent friendly advice and professions, Lady Bertram dispatched money and baby-linen, and Mrs. Norris wrote the letters.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The note was immediately dispatched, and its contents as quickly complied with.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The meal was quickly dispatched.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

UH Mānoa dispatched the research ship Ka'imikai-O-Kanaloa from July 13 to 17 of last year, when Kīlauea was still erupting, and it sailed very close to where the lava entered the ocean so researchers could study the organisms and water chemistry there.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

“Strand postmark, and dispatched ten thirty-six,” said Holmes, reading it over and over.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Having dispatched which missive, Mr. Copperfield fell into a condition of strong nervous agitation; and so remained until the day arrived.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)