Dis‐charge″, n. [Cf. F. décharge. See Discharge, v. t.] 1. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo.
2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.
3. Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation, etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor.
4. Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation, liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt, or the performance of a trust or duty.
Indefatigable in the discharge of business. Motley.
Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L'Estrange.
5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer.
6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner.
7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
Too secure of our discharge
From penalty. Milton.
8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document.
Death, who sets all free,
Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton.
9. A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation; also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid discharge of water from the pipe.
The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge. S. Sharp.
Charge and discharge. (Equity Practice) See under Charge, n. — Paralytic discharge(Physiol.), the increased secretion from a gland resulting from the cutting of all of its nerves.