Dis·charge v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discharged p. pr. & vb. n. Discharging.]
  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.]
  13.  Textile Dyeing & Printing To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark ground.
  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.