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dismiss

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verb [transitive] American English pronunciation: dismiss /dɪsˈmɪs/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theydismiss
he/she/itdismisses
present participledismissing
past tensedismissed
past participledismissed
  1. 1
    to refuse to accept that something might be true or important

    The senator dismissed claims that he had accepted bribes.

    We should not dismiss these ideas just because they are unfamiliar.

    dismiss something as something:

    Their evidence was dismissed as completely worthless.

    dismiss something out of hand (=without considering it):

    The theory cannot be dismissed out of hand.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  2. 2
    [often passive] to force someone to leave their job

    Edwards claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed.

    dismiss someone for something:

    He was dismissed for gross misconduct.

    dismiss someone from something:

    Jackson was dismissed from her job because of the allegations.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  3. 3
    to officially tell people that they can leave a place

    Judge Helman dismissed the jury after they failed to reach a verdict.

    The class is dismissed.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss
  4. 4
    legal if a judge dismisses a court case, they officially decide that the case should not continue

    The case was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.

    The court dismissed his appeal.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of dismiss

This is the American English definition of dismiss. View British English definition of dismiss.

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