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.
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   2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion;
      letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.
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   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.
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   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.
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            Indefatigable in the discharge of business.
                                                  --Motley.
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            Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those
            duties.                               --L'Estrange.
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   5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.;
      dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his
      employer.
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   6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the
      discharge of a prisoner.
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   7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt,
      obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
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            Too secure of our discharge
            From penalty.                         --Milton.
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   8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation,
      liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal
      document.
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            Death, who sets all free,
            Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge.
                                                  --Milton.
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   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.
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            The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is
            a thin serous discharge.              --S. Sharp.
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   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.
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