Discharge

Discharge Dis*charge", n. [Cf. F. d['e]charge. 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]