verb (used with object)
- to direct (an assembly of persons) to disperse or go: I dismissed the class early.
- to bid or allow (a person) to go; give permission or a request to depart.
- to discharge or remove, as from office or service: to dismiss an employee.
- to discard or reject: to dismiss a suitor.
- to put off or away, especially from consideration; put aside; reject: She dismissed the story as mere rumor.
- to have done with (a subject) after summary treatment: After a perfunctory discussion, he dismissed the idea.
- Law. to put out of court, as a complaint or appeal.
verb (tr)
- to remove or discharge from employment or service
- to send away or allow to go or disperse
- to dispel from one’s mind; discard; reject
- to cease to consider (a subject)they dismissed the problem
- to decline further hearing to (a claim or action)the judge dismissed the case
- cricket to bowl out (a side) for a particular number of runs
sentence substitute
- military an order to end an activity or give permission to disperse
early 15c., from Latin dimissus, past participle of dimittere “send away, send different ways; break up, discharge; renounce, abandon,” from dis- “apart, away” (see dis-) + mittere “send, let go” (see mission). Prefix altered by analogy with many dis- verbs. Dismit, in the same sense, is attested from late 14c. Related: Dismissed; dismissing.