dispense with

1. 1.

   give up what is not strictly needed

   “he asked if they could spare one of their horses to speed his journey”

   Synonymssparegive uppart with

   Broadergive
2. 2.

   do without or cease to hold or adhere to

   “We are dispensing with formalities”

   “relinquish the old ideas”

   Synonymswaiverelinquishforgoforegoforeswear

   Narrowerkick
3. 3.

   forgo or do or go without

   Broaderabandon

Questions about dispense with

What does dispense with mean?

dispense with means "give up what is not strictly needed". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for dispense with?

Close synonyms include spare, give up, part with, waive, relinquish. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is dispense with a common word?

dispense with is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.