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.
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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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Charge \Charge\, n. [F. charge, fr. charger to load. See
Charge, v. t., and cf. Cargo, Caricature.]
1. A load or burder laid upon a person or thing.
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2. A person or thing commited or intrusted to the care,
custody, or management of another; a trust.
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Note: The people of a parish or church are called the charge
of the clergyman who is set over them.
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3. Custody or care of any person, thing, or place; office;
responsibility; oversight; obigation; duty.
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'Tis a great charge to come under one body's hand.
--Shak.
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4. Heed; care; anxiety; trouble. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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5. Harm. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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6. An order; a mandate or command; an injunction.
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The king gave cherge concerning Absalom. --2. Sam.
xviii. 5.
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7. An address (esp. an earnest or impressive address)
containing instruction or exhortation; as, the charge of a
judge to a jury; the charge of a bishop to his clergy.
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8. An accusation of a wrong of offense; allegation;
indictment; specification of something alleged.
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The charge of confounding very different classes of
phenomena. --Whewell.
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9. Whatever constitutes a burden on property, as rents,
taxes, lines, etc.; costs; expense incurred; -- usually in
the plural.
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10. The price demanded for a thing or service.
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11. An entry or a account of that which is due from one party
to another; that which is debited in a business
transaction; as, a charge in an account book.
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12. That quantity, as of ammunition, electricity, ore, fuel,
etc., which any apparatus, as a gun, battery, furnace,
machine, etc., is intended to receive and fitted to hold,
or which is actually in it at one time
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13. The act of rushing upon, or towards, an enemy; a sudden
onset or attack, as of troops, esp. cavalry; hence, the
signal for attack; as, to sound the charge.
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Never, in any other war afore, gave the Romans a
hotter charge upon the enemies. --Holland.
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The charge of the light brigade. --Tennyson.
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14. A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack; as, to bring
a weapon to the charge.
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15. (Far.) A sort of plaster or ointment.
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16. (Her.) A bearing. See Bearing, n., 8.
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17. [Cf. Charre.] Thirty-six pigs of lead, each pig
weighing about seventy pounds; -- called also charre.
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18. Weight; import; value.
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Many suchlike "as's" of great charge. --Shak.
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Back charge. See under Back, a.
Bursting charge.
(a) (Mil.) The charge which bursts a shell, etc.
(b) (Mining) A small quantity of fine powder to secure
the ignition of a charge of coarse powder in
blasting.
Charge and discharge (Equity Practice), the old mode or
form of taking an account before a master in chancery.
Charge sheet, the paper on which are entered at a police
station all arrests and accusations.
To sound the charge, to give the signal for an attack.
Syn: Care; custody; trust; management; office; expense; cost;
price; assault; attack; onset; injunction; command;
order; mandate; instruction; accusation; indictment.
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