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Despatch   Listen
noun
Despatch  n., v.  Same as Dispatch.


Dispatch  n.  (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."
3.
The finishing up of a business; speedy performance, as of business; prompt execution; diligence; haste. "Serious business, craving quick dispatch." "To carry his scythe... with a sufficient dispatch through a sufficient space."
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.
Synonyms: Haste; hurry; promptness; celerity; speed. See Haste.


verb
Dispatch  v. t.  (past & past part. dispatched; pres. part. dispatching)  (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." "(The) harvest men... almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work."
2.
To rid; to free. (Obs.) "I had clean dispatched myself of this great charge."
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."
4.
To send off or away; particularly applied to sending off messengers, messages, letters, etc., on special business, and implying haste.
5.
To send out of the world; to put to death. "The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords."
Synonyms: To expedite; hasten; speed; accelerate; perform; conclude; finish; slay; kill.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Despatch" Quotes from Famous Books



... station not far ahead, Sinclair?" asked he. "Yes? All right." He drew a small pad from his pocket, and wrote a despatch to ...
— Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2 • Various
... Kalitan's gun as he ran. Chetwoof, hearing the noise, hurried out, and it was but a few moments before he was at Kalitan's side. To Ted it seemed like a day before he could get back and see what was happening, but he arrived on the scene in time to see Chetwoof despatch ...
— Kalitan, Our Little Alaskan Cousin • Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
... "I have brought this gentleman, a King's officer, to do me so much justice. Now I think my character is covered, and until a certain date, which your lordship can very well supply, it will be quite in vain to despatch against me any more officers. I will not consent to fight my way through the ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 11 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson
... some time after that murmuring prayers, her head supported on my shoulder. I longed impatiently for the nurse to return, that I might despatch her for the leech; not that I thought anything could be done, but for my own comfort and greater satisfaction afterwards, and that my mother might not die without some fitting attendance. The house ...
— A Gentleman of France • Stanley Weyman
... business of the Stores Department is to see to the provision of stores for the navy, and to the proper supply of these at all the establishments, and for this purpose its officials direct the movements of storeships, and arrange for the despatch of colliers, the director being charged to be "careful to provide for His Majesty's ships on foreign stations, and for the necessary supplies to foreign yards.'' Another important business of the director of stores is the ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia


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