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Dispatch

//dɪˈspætʃ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A message sent quickly, as a shipment, a prompt settlement of a business, or an important official message sent by a diplomat, government official, military officer, etc. countable, uncountable

    "WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies."

  2. 2
    the act of sending off something wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of doing something quickly. countable, uncountable

    "We must act with dispatch in this matter."

  4. 4
    killing a person or animal wordnet
  5. 5
    A mission by an emergency response service, typically involving attending to an emergency in the field. countable, uncountable
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    the property of being prompt and efficient wordnet
  2. 7
    The passing on of a message for further processing, especially through a dispatch table. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    an official report (usually sent in haste) wordnet
  4. 9
    A dismissal. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To send (a shipment) with promptness. transitive
  2. 2
    kill without delay wordnet
  3. 3
    To send (a person) away hastily. transitive

    "The League of One was suddenly exposed and in danger of being hunted by enemies of the salarians. Before any harm could be done, the team mysteriously disappeared.[...]Realizing the threat posed by this rogue outfit, the Special Tasks Group dispatched a team of hunters. When they didn't return, the STG dispatched ten of its brightest operators with broad discretionary powers. Only two returned; they reported no evidence of the League."

  4. 4
    send away towards a designated goal wordnet
  5. 5
    To send (an important official message) promptly, by means of a diplomat or military officer. transitive
Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently wordnet
  2. 7
    To send (a journalist) to a place in order to report. transitive

    "Scores of foreign journalists have been dispatched to Seoul to report on the growing tensions between the two Koreas and the possibility of war."

  3. 8
    kill intentionally and with premeditation wordnet
  4. 9
    To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform. transitive

    "Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we / The business we have talk'd of."

  5. 10
    complete or carry out wordnet
  6. 11
    To rid; to free. transitive

    "But whā I had cleane diſpatched myſelf of this great charge and taſke, I loked not that I ſhould at any tyme afterwarde have any more to doe with this kynde of writing"

  7. 12
    To destroy (someone or something) quickly and efficiently. transitive

    ""And our dogs used to tree the cats on our property here, and we'd dispatch them.""

  8. 13
    To defeat transitive

    "Gareth Southgate's side had little trouble dispatching the side 172nd in the Fifa rankings."

  9. 14
    To pass on for further processing, especially via a dispatch table (often with to). transitive

    "These handlers perform any additional checking and processing that may be necessary before and after a message is dispatched to an object. In addition, some message types are handled internally by the kernel[…]"

  10. 15
    To hurry. intransitive, obsolete

    "prithee, dispatch"

  11. 16
    To deprive. obsolete, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare, replacing alternate reflex depeach, which is from French dépêcher. Further, several steps omitting, from Latin dis- + impedicō (whence impeach). The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident. Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare, replacing alternate reflex depeach, which is from French dépêcher. Further, several steps omitting, from Latin dis- + impedicō (whence impeach). The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident. Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).

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