Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dispatch

Dis·patch′, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dispatched; p. pr. & vb. n. Dispatching.] [OF. despeechier, F. dépêcher; prob. from pref. des- (L. dis-) + (assumed) LL. pedicare to place obstacles in the way, fr. L. pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and cf. Impeach, Despatch.] [Written also despatch.] 1. To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform.

Ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we The business we have talked of. Shak.

[The] harvest men . . . almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work. Robynson (More's Utopia).

2. To rid; to free. [Obs.]

I had clean dispatched myself of this great charge. Udall.

3. To get rid of by sending off; to send away hastily.

Unless dispatched to the mansion house in the country . . . they perish among the lumber of garrets. Walpole.

4. To send off or away; — particularly applied to sending off messengers, messages, letters, etc., on special business, and implying haste.

Even with the speediest expedition I will dispatch him to the emperor's court. Shak.

5. To send out of the world; to put to death.

The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. Ezek. xxiii. 47.

Syn. — To expedite; hasten; speed; accelerate; perform; conclude; finish; slay; kill.

Dis·patch′, v. i. To make haste; to conclude an affair; to finish a matter of business.

They have dispatched with Pompey. Shak.

Dis·patch′, n. [Cf. OF. despeche, F. dépêche. See Dispatch, v. t.] [Written also despatch.] 1. The act of sending a message or messenger in haste or on important business.

2. Any sending away; dismissal; riddance.

To the utter dispatch of all their most beloved comforts. Milton.

3. The finishing up of a business; speedy performance, as of business; prompt execution; diligence; haste.

Serious business, craving quick dispatch. Shak.

To carry his scythe . . . with a sufficient dispatch through a sufficient space. Paley.

4. A message dispatched or sent with speed; especially, an important official letter sent from one public officer to another; — often used in the plural; as, a messenger has arrived with dispatches for the American minister; naval or military dispatches.

5. A message transmitted by telegraph. [Modern]

Dispatch boat, a swift vessel for conveying dispatches; an advice boat. — Dispatch box, a box for carrying dispatches; a box for papers and other conveniences when traveling.

Syn. — Haste; hurry; promptness; celerity; speed. See Haste.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.