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dispense

verb

Simple meaning

To issue, distribute, or give out.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihspehns

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪsˈpɛns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To issue, distribute, or give out.

  2. To supply or make up a medicine or prescription.

  3. Give or apply (medications)

  4. To apply, as laws to particular cases; to administer; to execute; to manage; to direct.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To issue, distribute, or give out.

Used this way, dispense is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use dispense

  • “I was dispensed from this terrible task.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

dispense justicewell dispensedispense entirelydispense altogethereasily dispensedispense informationdispense advicedispense patronage

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • dish out

    To distribute (a thing).

  • deal

    To distribute among a number of recipients, to give out as one's portion or share.

  • administer

    To apportion out, distribute.

  • deal out

    To dole out or distribute (something).

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • dispensernounInflected form

    A container so designed that the contents can be used in prescribed amounts.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • dispensationnounDerived noun

    An exemption from some rule or obligation.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • dispense withverbCompound term

    Give up what is not strictly needed.

  • cash dispensernounCompound term

    An unattended machine (outside some banks) that dispenses money when a personal coded card is used.

  • island dispensernounCompound term

    A pump in a service station that draws gasoline from underground storage tanks.

  • soap dispensernounCompound term

    Dispenser of liquid soap.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.