dispose

 
Pronunciation: /dɪˈspəʊz/

verb

  • 1 [no object] (dispose of) get rid of by throwing away or giving or selling to someone else: the waste is disposed of in the North Sea people now have substantial assets to dispose of after their death
  • informal kill: she came up with schemes for disposing of her husband
  • overcome (a rival or threat): the Scottish champions were buoyant after they disposed of English champions Leeds
  • informal consume (food or drink) quickly or enthusiastically: she watched him dispose of a large slice of cheese
  • 2incline (someone) towards a particular activity or mood: prolactin, a calming hormone, is released, disposing you towards sleep [with object and infinitive]: if you touch the female readers' hearts, it might dispose their husbands to be charitable
  • 3 [with object and adverbial] arrange in a particular position: the chief disposed his attendants in a circle
  • [no object] literary determine the course of events: the government proposed, but the trade union movement disposed
    [from the proverb ‘Man proposes, (but) God disposes’, translating Latin Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit (Thomas à Kempis's De Imitatione Christi i. xix)]

Derivatives

disposer

noun
a waste disposer a disposer of grants and subsidies

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French disposer, from Latin disponere 'arrange', influenced by dispositus 'arranged' and Old French poser 'to place'