disposer
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dis·pose
(dĭ-spōz′)v. dis·posed, dis·pos·ing, dis·pos·es
v.tr.
1. To put into a willing or receptive frame of mind; incline: "If we're going to preach the politics of virtue, then we need to promote the social conditions that dispose people to be virtuous" (Lillian B. Rubin).
2. To place or set in a particular order; arrange: "Sally ... was beginning to loosen the upper sheet and dispose the pillows" (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
v.intr.
Phrasal Verb: To determine the course of events: Man proposes, God disposes.
dispose of
1. To finish dealing with something; settle: Let's dispose of the matter and turn to something else.
2. To give or transfer to someone else, especially permanently: She disposed of her estate among her heirs. He disposed of his memoirs to a research library.
3. To get rid of; throw out: He disposed of the newspapers after reading them.
4. To kill or destroy.
[Middle English disposen, to arrange, from Old French disposer, alteration (influenced by poser, to put, place) of Latin dispōnere, to arrange : dis-, apart; see dis- + pōnere, to put; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]
dis·pos′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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