dispatch - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

Definition of dispatch


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dis·patch also des·patch  audio  (d-spch) KEY 

TRANSITIVE VERB:
dis·patched, dis·patch·ing, dis·patch·es
  1. To relegate to a specific destination or send on specific business. See Synonyms at send1.
    1. To complete, transact, or dispose of promptly.
    2. To eat up (food); finish off (a dish or meal).
  2. To put to death summarily.
NOUN:
  1. The act of sending off, as to a specific destination.
  2. Dismissal or rejection of something regarded as unimportant or unworthy of consideration: "[his] breezy dispatch of another Establishment fiction writer" (Christopher Hitchens).
  3. The act of putting to death.
  4. Speed in performance or movement. See Synonyms at haste.
  5. (also dspch)
    1. A written message, particularly an official communication, sent with speed.
    2. An important message sent by a diplomat or an officer in the armed forces.
  6. (also dspch) A news item sent to a news organization, as by a correspondent.
  7. An organization or conveyance for delivering goods.

ETYMOLOGY:
Spanish despachar, or Italian dispacciare both probably ultimately from Old Provençal empachar, to impede, from Vulgar Latin *impctre, frequentative of Latin impingere, to dash against ; see impinge


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