dispense

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb administer or bestow, as in small portions
  2. verb grant a dispensation; grant an exemption
  3. verb give or apply (medications)

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French dispenser, from Latin dispēnsāre (“to weigh out, pay out, distribute, regulate, manage, control, dispense”), frequentative of dispendere (“to weigh out”), from dis- (“apart”) + pendere (“to weigh”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

distribute, administer, mete out, deal, parcel out, lot, shell out, deal out, dish out, allot, dole out

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