dispense

Meaning

Verb

1. To issue, distribute, or give out.
2. To apply, as laws to particular cases; to administer; to execute; to manage; to direct.
3. To supply or make up a medicine or prescription.
4. To give a dispensation to (someone); to excuse.
5. (obsolete) To compensate; to make up; to make amends.

Noun

1. (obsolete) Cost, expenditure.
2. (obsolete) The act of dispensing, dispensation.

Synonyms

distribute

allot

administer

deal

give out

deliver

exempt

allocate

share

deal out

assign

parcel out

dish out

divide

dole out

hand out

mete out

lot

shell out

award

scatter

confer

apportion

mete

issue

partition

divide into parts

pass out

sell

free

🆓

bestow

split

emancipate

empower

endue

enfranchise

excuse

exonerate

fasten

fork

fraction

gift

🎁

give

give away

grant

halve

hand over

lend

let

let off

liberate

manumit

offer

pass around

pass on

pay

💸

portion

portion out

pound

💷

present

provide

put out

reallocate

redeem

release

relieve

remit

render

rescue

screen off

section

separate

set free

spell

split up

stratify

subdivide

supply

divide into

unblock

unchain

uncork

unfreeze

waive

whitewash

yield

branch off

diverge from

divvy up

hand round

indue

let go of

serve out

share out

give up the idea

(to) honor

part

(to) honour

abandon

absolve

accord

acquit

admeasure

admit

afford

affranchise

allocation

allow

apply

ascribe

assignment

assoil

batch

canton

carve up

cast

cater

circularize

circulate

clear

decontrol

delivery

disencumber

disengage

dissect

dissever

distribution

donate

drive home

Hyphenated as

dis‧pense

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɪˈspɛns/

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre (“to weigh out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense”), frequentative of dispendere (“to weigh out”), from dis- (“apart”) + pendere (“to weigh”).