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.