The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Discharge \Dis*charge"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discharged; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Discharging.] [OE. deschargen, dischargen, OF.
   deschargier, F. d['e]charger; pref. des- (L. dis) + chargier,
   F. charger. See Charge.]
   1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a
      load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a
      vessel.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To free of the missile with which anything is charged or
      loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow,
      catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire
      off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of
      tension, as a Leyden jar.
      [1913 Webster]

            The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows,
            discharge their great pieces against the city.
                                                  --Knolles.
      [1913 Webster]

            Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect
            muscular actions.                     --H. Spencer.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a
      debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.;
      to absolve; to acquit; to clear.
      [1913 Webster]

            Discharged of business, void of strife. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            In one man's fault discharge another man of his
            duty.                                 --L'Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from
      service; to dismiss.
      [1913 Webster]

            Discharge the common sort
            With pay and thanks.                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his
            see.                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty;
      as, to discharge a prisoner.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take
      out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as,
      to discharge a cargo.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
      [1913 Webster]

            They do discharge their shot of courtesy. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
      [1913 Webster]

            We say such an order was "discharged on appeal."
                                                  --Mozley & W.
      [1913 Webster]

            The order for Daly's attendance was discharged.
                                                  --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt; to
      relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions,
      performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or
      execute, as an office, or part.
      [1913 Webster]

            Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large
            As could their hundred offices discharge. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay
       one's debt or obligation to. [Obs.]
       [1913 Webster]

             If he had
             The present money to discharge the Jew. --Shak.
       [1913 Webster]

   11. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges
       water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as,
       to discharge a horrible oath.
       [1913 Webster]

   12. To prohibit; to forbid. [Scot. Obs.] --Sir W. Scott.
       [1913 Webster]

   13. (Textile Dyeing & Printing) To bleach out or to remove or
       efface, as by a chemical process; as, to discharge the
       color from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures
       on a dark ground.
       [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, or
      other opening, to distribute the pressure of the wall
      above. See Illust. of Lintel.

   Discharging piece, Discharging strut (Arch.), a piece set
      to carry thrust or weight to a solid point of support.

   Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both
      ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for
      discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery. See
      Discharger.

   Syn: See Deliver.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Discharge \Dis*charge"\, v. i.
   To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload;
   to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the
   water pipe discharges freely.
   [1913 Webster]

         The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not
         discharge.                               --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Discharge \Dis*charge"\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]charge. See
   Discharge, v. t.]
   1. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge
      or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the
      discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion;
      letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs
      upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation,
      etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation,
      liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt,
      or the performance of a trust or duty.
      [1913 Webster]

            Indefatigable in the discharge of business.
                                                  --Motley.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those
            duties.                               --L'Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.;
      dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his
      employer.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the
      discharge of a prisoner.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt,
      obligation, office, and the like; acquittal.
      [1913 Webster]

            Too secure of our discharge
            From penalty.                         --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation,
      liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal
      document.
      [1913 Webster]

            Death, who sets all free,
            Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation;
      also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid
      discharge of water from the pipe.
      [1913 Webster]

            The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is
            a thin serous discharge.              --S. Sharp.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. (Elec.) The equalization of a difference of electric
       potential between two points. The character of the
       discharge is mostly determined by the nature of the
       medium through which it takes place, the amount of the
       difference of potential, and the form of the terminal
       conductors on which the difference exists. The discharge
       may be alternating, continuous, brush, connective,
       disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc.
       [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Charge and discharge. (Equity Practice) See under Charge,
      n.

   Paralytic discharge (Physiol.), the increased secretion
      from a gland resulting from the cutting of all of its
      nerves.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

electric current \electric current\, electrical current
\electrical current\,
   the movement of electrically charged particles, atoms, or
   ions, through solids, liquids, gases, or free space; the term
   is usually used of relatively smooth movements of electric
   charge through conductors, whether constant or variable.
   Sudden movements of charge are usually referred to by other
   terms, such as spark or lightning or discharge. In
   metallic conductors the electric current is usually due to
   movement of electrons through the metal. The current is
   measured as the rate of movement of charge per unit time, and
   is counted in units of amperes. As a formal definition, the
   direction of movement of electric current is considered as
   the same as the direction of movement of positive charge, or
   in a direction opposite to the movement of negative charge.
   Electric current may move constantly in a single direction,
   called direct current (abbreviated DC), or may move
   alternately in one direction and then the opposite direction,
   called alternating current (abbreviated AC).
   [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

discharge
    n 1: the sudden giving off of energy
    2: the act of venting [syn: discharge, venting]
    3: a substance that is emitted or released [syn: discharge,
       emission]
    4: any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of
       the body; "the discharge of pus" [syn: discharge,
       emission, expelling]
    5: electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric
       field [syn: discharge, spark, arc, electric arc,
       electric discharge]
    6: the pouring forth of a fluid [syn: discharge, outpouring,
       run]
    7: the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to
       depart) [syn: dismissal, dismission, discharge,
       firing, liberation, release, sack, sacking]
    8: a formal written statement of relinquishment [syn: release,
       waiver, discharge]
    9: the act of discharging a gun [syn: discharge, firing,
       firing off]
    v 1: complete or carry out; "discharge one's duties" [syn:
         dispatch, discharge, complete]
    2: pour forth or release; "discharge liquids"
    3: free from obligations or duties [syn: free, discharge]
    4: remove the charge from [ant: charge]
    5: go off or discharge; "The gun fired" [syn: fire,
       discharge, go off]
    6: pronounce not guilty of criminal charges; "The suspect was
       cleared of the murder charges" [syn: acquit, assoil,
       clear, discharge, exonerate, exculpate] [ant:
       convict]
    7: eliminate (a substance); "combustion products are exhausted
       in the engine"; "the plant releases a gas" [syn: exhaust,
       discharge, expel, eject, release]
    8: leave or unload; "unload the cargo"; "drop off the passengers
       at the hotel" [syn: drop, drop off, set down, put
       down, unload, discharge]
    9: cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet" [syn: fire,
       discharge]
    10: release from military service [syn: discharge, muster
        out] [ant: draft, enlist, muster in]
    11: become empty or void of its content; "The room emptied"
        [syn: empty, discharge] [ant: fill, fill up]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

655 Moby Thesaurus words for "discharge":
   AC arc, Poulsen arc, abide by, abrogate, absolution, absolve,
   accomplish, accomplished fact, accomplishment, accordance, achieve,
   achievement, acknowledgment, acquit, acquitment, acquittal,
   acquittance, adhere to, adherence, administer, administration,
   amnesty, amortization, amortize, amortizement, aperiodic discharge,
   arc, arc column, arc discharge, attain, attainment, ax, backfire,
   bang, bark, belch, binder, blast, bleed, blow open, blow out,
   blow up, blowout, blowup, boom, boot, boot out, booting out,
   bounce, bowshot, break, break bulk, break out, break up,
   brush discharge, bullet, bump, burst, burst forth, burst out, bust,
   can, canceled check, cannon, care, carry into execution, carry out,
   carry through, carrying out, cash, cash payment, cashier,
   cashiering, cast, cast forth, cast loose, cast out, catharsis,
   charge, charter, chuck out, chyle, cleanse, cleansing, clear,
   clear off, clearance, clearing, cock, colostrum, commission,
   compass, complete, completion, compliance, compurgation, conduct,
   conformance, conformity, conge, consummate, consummation,
   cope with, crack, deactivate, deal with, debouch, debrief,
   debt service, decant, decontaminate, defenestrate, defenestration,
   defluxion, defrayal, defrayment, defrock, degrade, dejecta,
   dejection, dejecture, deliver, deliverance, demob, demobilization,
   demobilize, demote, deplume, deposal, depose, deposit, deprive,
   destigmatization, destigmatize, destigmatizing, detach, detonate,
   detonation, detrude, detrusion, diplomatic immunity, disband,
   disbar, disburden, disburdening, disbursal, discard, disculpation,
   disembogue, disemploy, disemployment, disgorge, disgorgement,
   disintegrate, dismiss, dismissal, disorganize, dispatch, dispense,
   dispense from, dispense with, disperse, displace, displacing,
   displume, dispose of, disruptive discharge, dissolve, do,
   do the job, do the trick, doling out, down payment, drain,
   drainage, drop, drum out, drumming out, dump, earnest,
   earnest money, effect, effectuate, effectuation, effluence,
   effluent, efflux, effluxion, effuse, effusion, egest, egesta,
   egestion, ejaculate, ejaculation, eject, ejecta, ejectamenta,
   ejection, ejectment, electric discharge, electric shock,
   electric spark, electrodeless discharge, eliminate, elimination,
   emanation, emancipate, emergence, emersion, emission, emit,
   emotional release, empty, emptying, enact, enactment, enforce,
   enforcement, eruct, eructation, erupt, eruption, except, exception,
   exclude, excrement, excreta, excrete, excretes, excreting,
   excretion, exculpate, exculpation, excuse, execute, execution,
   exempt, exempt from, exemption, exfiltrate, exhalation, exhaust,
   exonerate, exoneration, expel, explode, explosion, expulsion,
   extravasate, extravasation, extrude, extrusion, exudate, exudation,
   exude, fait accompli, fell, fetch, fill out, filter, filtrate,
   fire, fire off, firing, flare, flash, flow, flowoff, flux,
   forced separation, forgive, forgiveness, franchise, free,
   free from, freeing, fruition, fulfill, fulfillment, fulguration,
   fulminate, fulmination, furlough, furloughing, fusillade,
   galvanic shock, give absolution, give dispensation from,
   give notice, give off, give release, give respite, give the ax,
   give the gate, give the hook, gleet, glow discharge, go bail for,
   go off, go separate ways, grant amnesty to, grant bail to,
   grant immunity, grant remission, gun, gun for, gunfire, gunshot,
   gush, handle, handling, heave out, heed, heeding, hire purchase,
   hire purchase plan, hit, honor, humor, hurl forth, ichor, immunity,
   implement, implementation, inactivate, installment,
   installment plan, interest payment, intermission, intermit,
   issuance, issue, jet, jettison, junk, justify, keeping, kick,
   kick downstairs, kick out, kick upstairs, kicking downstairs,
   knock off, lachryma, lactation, lay off, layoff, leach, leak,
   legislative immunity, let fly, let go, let go free, let loose,
   let off, let out, leukorrhea, liberate, liberty, license, lift,
   liquidate, liquidation, lixiviate, load, loose, loosen, lymph,
   make, make accounts square, make out, make redundant, manage,
   management, manumit, matter, meet, milk, mission accomplished,
   monthly payments, mucor, mucus, muster out, never-never, nonpros,
   notice, observance, observation, observe, obtrude, obtrusion,
   off-load, offload, offloading, ooze, oozing, oscillatory discharge,
   oust, ouster, ousting, outburst, outfall, outflow, outflowing,
   outpour, outpouring, pardon, parole, part, part company, pass,
   patent, pay, pay in full, pay off, pay the bill, pay the shot,
   pay up, paying, paying off, paying out, paying up, payment,
   payment in kind, payoff, peccant humor, pelt, pension off, pepper,
   percolate, perform, performance, permission, perpetration, phlegm,
   pick off, pink slip, pistol, plug, polish off, pop, pot, potshoot,
   potshot, pour, pour forth, pour out, practice, prepayment, prime,
   privilege, produce, production, promulgate, prosecute, prosecution,
   purgation, purge, purge away, purging, purulence, pus, put away,
   put in force, put on parole, put out, put through,
   quarterly payments, quash, quash the charge, quietus, quit,
   quittance, read out of, realization, realize, receipt,
   receipt in full, redeem, reek, regular payments, reject, rejection,
   release, relieve, remise, remission, remit, remittance, removal,
   remove, render, replace, report, reprieve, respect, respite,
   retire, retirement, rheum, riddle, runoff, sack, saliva, salvo,
   sanies, satisfaction, satisfy, save the necessity, scatter,
   secrete, secretion, seep, seepage, send away, send forth, send out,
   separate, separate forcibly, serous fluid, serum, set free,
   set off, settle, settlement, shock, shoot, shoot at, shoot down,
   shooting, shot, shrive, silent discharge, sinking-fund payment,
   snipe, snot, spare, spark, spark gap, spew, split up, spot cash,
   spout, spray, spurt, square, square accounts, square up, squirt,
   stoneshot, strain, strike, strike a balance, strip, succeed,
   success, superannuate, supersede, supplant, suppuration, surcease,
   surfacing, surplus, surplusing, suspend, suspension, sweat,
   take a potshot, take care of, take up, tattoo, tear, teardrop,
   terminate, the ax, the boot, the bounce, the gate, the sack,
   the whites, throw away, throw out, throw overboard, throwing out,
   thrust out, ticket, torpedo, toss out, touch off, transact,
   transaction, transpire, transudate, transudation, transude,
   turn off, turn out, turn the trick, unbind, unbinding, unbolting,
   unbridling, unbuckling, unburden, uncaging, unchain, unchaining,
   unfettering, unfrock, ungagging, unhand, unhanding, unharnessing,
   unhobbling, unlade, unlashing, unlatching, unleashing, unload,
   unloading, unlocking, unloosing, unmanacling, unmuzzling, unpack,
   unpenning, unshackle, unshackling, unship, unstrapping,
   untethering, untrussing, untying, unyoking, urine, vacate, vent,
   verdict of acquittal, vindicate, vindication, void, voiding,
   volley, vomit, voucher, walking papers, waste, waste matter,
   weekly payments, weep, whitewash, withdraw the charge, work,
   work out



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DISCHARGE, practice. The act by which a person in confinement, under some
legal process, or held on an accusation of some crime or misdemeanor, is set
at liberty; the writing containing the order for his being so set at
liberty, is also called a discharge.
     2. The discharge of a defendant, in prison under a ca. sa., when made
by the plaintiff, has the operation of satisfying the debt, the plaintiff
having no other remedy. 4 T. R. 526. But when the discharge is in
consequence of the insolvent laws, or the defendant dies in prison, the debt
is not satisfied. In the first place the plaintiff has a remedy against the
property of the defendant, acquired after his discharge, and, in the last
case, against the executors or administrators of the debtor. Bac. Ab.
Execution, D; Bingh. on Execution, 266.