Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Discharge \Dis*charge"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Discharged}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Discharging}.] [OE. deschargen, dischargen, OF.
   deschargier, F. d['e]charger; 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.

   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.

            The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows,
            discharge their great pieces against the city.
                                                  --Knolles.

            Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect
            muscular actions.                     --H. Spencer.

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

            Discharged of business, void of strife. --Dryden.

            In one man's fault discharge another man of his
            duty.                                 --L'Estrange.

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

            Discharge the common sort With pay and thanks.
                                                  --Shak.

            Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his
            see.                                  --Milton.

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

   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.

   7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.

            They do discharge their shot of courtesy. --Shak.

   8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.

            We say such an order was ``discharged on appeal.''
                                                  --Mozley & W.

            The order for Daly's attendance was discharged.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   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.

            Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large As could
            their hundred offices discharge.      --Dryden.

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

             If he had The present money to discharge the Jew.
                                                  --Shak.

   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.

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

   {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}.