n. [ Gr. 'amfi` + di`skos a round plate. ] (Zool.) A peculiar small siliceous spicule having a denticulated wheel at each end; -- found in freshwater sponges. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A sum equal to the interest at a given rate on the principal (face) of a bill or note from the time of discounting until it becomes due. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. a disc-shaped layer of cells on the surface of the yolk mass of an egg (such as that of a bird) which develops to form the embryo.
Syn. -- germinal disc, germinal area. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. a disk-shaped optical data storage medium approximately 4-3/4 in. in diameter, which stores binary data as microscopic nonreflective holes or pits in an otherwise reflective surface, and is recorded and played back by rotation in an electronic device containing a laser. It is often referred to by its abbreviation CD. It is a type of optical data storage medium. Compact disks are used for recordings of music as well as of data for computer applications.
Syn. -- CD. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ L. condiscipulus. See Disciple. ] A schoolfellow; a fellow-student. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Disk, Dish. ] A flat round plate; (Biol.) A circular structure either in plants or animals; as, a blood disc, a germinal disc, etc. Same as Disk. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To uncage. [ R. ] Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or resembling, a disk; as, discal cells. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. discalceatus unshod; dis- + calceus shoe. ] To pull off shoes or sandals from. [ Obs. ] Cockeram. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Deprived off shoes or sandals; unshod; discalced. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of pulling off the shoes or sandals. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Unshod; barefooted; -- in distinction from calced. “The foundation of houses of discalced friars.” Cardinal Manning's St. Teresa. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Decamp. ] To drive from a camp. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To melt; to dissolve; to thaw. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Descant, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deprive of capacity; to incapacitate. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Card Playing) To make a discard. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Discarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Discarding. ] 1. (Card Playing) To throw out of one's hand, as superfluous cards; to lay aside (a card or cards). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cast off as useless or as no longer of service; to dismiss from employment, confidence, or favor; to discharge; to turn away. [ 1913 Webster ]

They blame the favorites, and think it nothing extraordinary that the queen should . . . resolve to discard them. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To put or thrust away; to reject. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man discards the follies of boyhood. I. Taylor.

Syn. -- To dismiss; displace; discharge; cashier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Card Playing) The act of discarding; also, the card or cards discarded. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Rejection; dismissal. [ R. ] Hayter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. dis- + carnatus fleshy, fr. caro, carnis, flesh. ] Stripped of flesh. [ Obs. ] “Discarnate bones.” Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To strip; to undress. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. discedere; dis- + cedere to yield. ] To yield or give up; to depart. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I dare not discede from my copy a tittle. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. disceptare. ] To debate; to discuss. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One dissertates, he is candid;
Two must discept, -- has distinguished. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. disceptatio. ] Controversy; disputation; discussion. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Verbose janglings and endless disceptations. Strype. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who arbitrates or decides. [ R. ] Cowley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Discerned p. pr. & vb. n. Discerning. ] [ F. discerner, L. discernere, discretum; dis- + cernere to separate, distinguish. See Certain, and cf. Discreet. ] 1. To see and identify by noting a difference or differences; to note the distinctive character of; to discriminate; to distinguish. [ 1913 Webster ]

To discern such buds as are fit to produce blossoms. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

A counterfeit stone which thine eye can not discern from a right stone. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To see by the eye or by the understanding; to perceive and recognize; as, to discern a difference. [ 1913 Webster ]

And [ I ] beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. Prov. vii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our unassisted sight . . . is not acute enough to discern the minute texture of visible objects. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

I wake, and I discern the truth. Tennyson.

Syn. -- To perceive; distinguish; discover; penetrate; discriminate; espy; descry; detect. See Perceive. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To see or understand the difference; to make distinction; as, to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood. [ 1913 Webster ]

More than sixscore thousand that cannot discern between their right hand their left. Jonah iv. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make cognizance. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Discernment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, discerns, distinguishes, perceives, or judges; as, a discerner of truth, of right and wrong. [ 1913 Webster ]

A great observer and discerner of men's natures. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. discernibilis. ] Capable of being discerned by the eye or the understanding; as, a star is discernible by the eye; the identity of difference of ideas is discernible by the understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

The effect of the privations and sufferings . . . was discernible to the last in his temper and deportment. Macaulay.

Syn. -- Perceptible; distinguishable; apparent; visible; evident; manifest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being discernible. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a manner to be discerned; perceptibly; visibly. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acute; shrewd; sagacious; sharp-sighted. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a discerning manner; with judgment; judiciously; acutely. Garth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. discernement. ] 1. The act of discerning. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another; power of viewing differences in objects, and their relations and tendencies; penetrative and discriminate mental vision; acuteness; sagacity; insight; as, the errors of youth often proceed from the want of discernment.

Syn. -- Judgment; acuteness; discrimination; penetration; sagacity; insight. -- Discernment, Penetration, Discrimination. Discernment is keenness and accuracy of mental vision; penetration is the power of seeing deeply into a subject in spite of everything that intercepts the view; discrimination is a capacity of tracing out minute distinctions and the nicest shades of thought. A discerning man is not easily misled; one of a penetrating mind sees a multitude of things which escape others; a discriminating judgment detects the slightest differences. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. discerpere, discerptum; dis- + carpere to pluck. ] 1. To tear in pieces; to rend. [ R. ] Stukeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To separate; to disunite. [ R. ] Bp. Hurd.

{ , n. Capability or liableness to be discerped. [ R. ] Wollaston.

{ , a. [ See Discerp. ] Capable of being discerped. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. discerptio. ] The act of pulling to pieces, or of separating the parts. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to separate or disunite parts. Encys. Dict. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. discessio, fr. discedere, discessum. See Discede. ] Departure. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Discharged p. pr. & vb. n. Discharging. ] [ OE. deschargen, dischargen, OF. deschargier, F. décharger; pref. des- (L. dis) + chargier, F. charger. See Charge. ] 1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To free of the missile with which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar. [ 1913 Webster ]

The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharged of business, void of strife. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

In one man's fault discharge another man of his duty. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharge the common sort
With pay and thanks. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as, to discharge a cargo. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot. [ 1913 Webster ]

They do discharge their shot of courtesy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

We say such an order was “discharged on appeal.” Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

The order for Daly's attendance was discharged. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt; to relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or execute, as an office, or part. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large
As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If he had
The present money to discharge the Jew. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as, to discharge a horrible oath. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To prohibit; to forbid. [ Scot. Obs. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Textile Dyeing & Printing) To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark ground. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, or other opening, to distribute the pressure of the wall above. See Illust. of Lintel. --
Discharging piece,
Discharging strut (Arch.), a piece set to carry thrust or weight to a solid point of support. --
Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery. See Discharger.

Syn. -- See Deliver. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload; to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the water pipe discharges freely. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Indefatigable in the discharge of business. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too secure of our discharge
From penalty. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death, who sets all free,
Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Elec.) The equalization of a difference of electric potential between two points. The character of the discharge is mostly determined by the nature of the medium through which it takes place, the amount of the difference of potential, and the form of the terminal conductors on which the difference exists. The discharge may be alternating, continuous, brush, connective, disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, discharges. Specifically, in electricity, an instrument for discharging a Leyden jar, or electrical battery, by making a connection between the two surfaces; a discharging rod. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Disheveled. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deprive of status as a church, or of membership in a church. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. discidere; dis- + caedere to cut. ] To divide; to cleave in two. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Disc- + -ferous. ] Bearing disks.