Definition

1. Verb:
   • To officially end someone's employment: To remove someone from their job, often because of poor performance or organizational changes.
   • To allow or instruct someone to leave: To give someone permission to go, often used in formal or group settings.
   • To reject or refuse to consider something seriously: To decide that something is not important, true, or worth attention.
   • To officially end a legal case or proceeding: To stop a court case from continuing, often because of a lack of evidence or legal grounds.
   • To send away or disperse a group: To officially tell a group of people to leave or break up.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The manager had to dismiss the employee for repeated violations of company policy.
  • The teacher dismissed the class early because of the fire drill.
  • She quickly dismissed the idea as being too expensive and impractical.
  • The judge dismissed the charges due to insufficient evidence.
  • The captain dismissed the troops after the morning inspection.

Advanced Usage

• "to dismiss out of hand": To reject something immediately without any consideration.

  • He dismissed their proposal out of hand, which angered the entire team.

• "to dismiss from one's mind/thoughts": To consciously stop thinking about something.

  • You should try to dismiss those worries from your mind and get some rest.

Variants and Related Words

• Dismissal (n): The act of dismissing someone or something.

  • The dismissal of the case was a major victory for the defense.

• Dismissive (adj): Showing that you do not think something is worth consideration.

  • He gave a dismissive wave of his hand when I mentioned the problem.

Synonyms

• Terminate: To end the employment contract of someone.
• Discharge: To officially tell someone to leave a job or military service.
• Reject: To refuse to accept, consider, or believe something.
• Disperse: To cause a group to break up and go in different directions.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Dismiss as: To categorize or judge something as being of a certain (often negative) type.
  • Critics dismissed the film as just another boring action movie.

Related Idioms

• To be dismissed with a wave of the hand: To be rejected in a casual or offhand manner.

  • My concerns were dismissed with a wave of the hand.

• To get one's marching orders: (Informal idiom related to dismissal from a job) To be told to leave one's job.

  • After the merger, several managers got their marching orders.

Verb

1. declare void
   • The President dissolved the parliament and called for new elections
2. end one's encounter with somebody by causing or permitting the person to leave
   • I was dismissed after I gave my report
3. terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position
   • The boss fired his secretary today
   • The company terminated 25% of its workers
4. stop associating with
   • They dropped her after she had a child out of wedlock
5. cease to consider; put out of judicial consideration
   • This case is dismissed!
6. bar from attention or consideration
   • She dismissed his advances