different between dispose vs clear

English

Etymology

From French disposer.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /d?s?po?z/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??sp??z/
• Rhymes: -??z

Verb

dispose (third-person singular simple present disposes, present participle disposing, simple past and past participle disposed)

1. (intransitive, used with "of") To eliminate or to get rid of something.

2. To distribute or arrange; to put in place.
   • 1600, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 4, scene III

     Now, dear soldiers, march away: / And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!

   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 6

     Marianne’s pianoforte was unpacked and properly disposed of, and Elinor’s drawing were affixed to the walls of their sitting rooms.

   • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, ?ISBN, page 47:

     I sat down within three feet of the entrance door, and I had no sooner got disposed than the door opened and a man came in […] .

3. To deal out; to assign to a use.
   • 1818 (first published), John Evelyn, diary entry for 1634

     what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor

4. To incline.

   (Used here intransitively in the passive voice)

   • Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose / To future good our past and present woes.

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Suspicion

     They [suspicions] dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy.

   • At twilight in the summer […] the mice come out. They […] eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly […] on the floor.

5. (obsolete) To bargain; to make terms.
6. (obsolete) To regulate; to adjust; to settle; to determine.

   • the knightly forms of combat to dispose

Synonyms

• incline
• discard

Antonyms

• indispose
• disincline

Derived terms

• disposition
• disposal
• dispose of

Translations

Noun

dispose

1. (obsolete) The disposal or management of something.
2. (obsolete) Behaviour; disposition.

French

Verb

dispose

1. first-person singular present indicative of disposer
2. third-person singular present indicative of disposer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of disposer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of disposer
5. second-person singular imperative of disposer

Italian

Verb

dispose

1. third-person singular past historic of disporre

Anagrams

• dispeso

English

Alternative forms

• CLR (contraction used in electronics)

Etymology

From Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English sc?r (“clear, bright”)), Middle English skere (“clear, sheer”) (from Old English sc?re and Old Norse sk?r (“sheer, clear, pure”)), Middle English smolt (“clear (of mind), serene”) (from Old English smolt (“peaceful, serene”)). Cognate with Danish klar, Dutch klaar, French clair, German klar, Italian chiaro, Norwegian klar, Portuguese claro, Romanian clar, Spanish claro, and Swedish klar.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kl??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kl??/
• Rhymes: -??(r)

Adjective

clear (comparative clearer, superlative clearest)

1. Transparent in colour.

2. Bright, not dark or obscured.

3. Free of obstacles.
4. Without clouds.

   • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

5. (meteorology) Of the sky, such that less than one eighth of its area is obscured by clouds.
6. Free of ambiguity or doubt.
7. Distinct, sharp, well-marked.

   Synonym: conspicuous

8. (figuratively) Free of guilt, or suspicion.
9. (of a soup) Without a thickening ingredient.
10. Possessing little or no perceptible stimulus.

11. (Scientology) Free from the influence of engrams; see Clear (Scientology).
    • 1971, Leonard Cohen, "Famous Blue Raincoat":

      Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair. She said that you gave it to her that night that you planned to go clear. Did you ever go clear?

12. Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating.
13. Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.

    • with a countenance as clear / As friendship wears at feasts

14. Easily or distinctly heard; audible.
    • c. 1708, Alexander Pope “Ode On St. Cecilia's Day”:

      Hark! the numbers, soft and clear / Gently steal upon the ear

15. Unmixed; entirely pure.

16. Without defects or blemishes, such as freckles or knots.
17. Without diminution; in full; net.
    • 1728, Jonathan Swift “Horace, Lib. 2, Sat. 6”:

      I often wished that I had clear / For life, six hundred pounds a year

Synonyms

• (transparency): pellucid, transparent; See also Thesaurus:transparent
• (free of ambiguity or doubt): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible of Thesaurus:explicit
• (distinct): See also Thesaurus:distinct
• (easily or distinctly heard): See also Thesaurus:audible
• (unmixed): homogeneous

Antonyms

• (transparency): opaque, turbid
• (bright): See also Thesaurus:dark
• (without clouds): cloudy, nebulous; See also Thesaurus:nebulous
• (free of ambiguity or doubt): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible and Thesaurus:confusing
• (of a soup): thick
• obscure

Hyponyms

• crystal clear

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

clear (not comparable)

1. All the way; entirely.

   I threw it clear across the river to the other side.

2. Not near something or touching it.

   Stand clear of the rails, a train is coming.

3. free (or separate) from others
4. (obsolete) In a clear manner; plainly.

Translations

Verb

clear (third-person singular simple present clears, present participle clearing, simple past and past participle cleared)

1. (transitive) To remove obstructions, impediments or other unwanted items from.

   Police took two hours to clear the road.

   If you clear the table, I'll wash up.

   • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, […].

   • 1715–8, Matthew Prior, “Alma: or, The Progre?s of the Mind” in Poems on Several Occa?ions (1741), canto III, p.297:

     Faith, Dick, I mu?t confe?s, ?tis true // (But this is only Entre Nous) // That many knotty Points there are, // Which All di?cu?s, but Few can clear.
2. (transitive) To remove (items or material) so as to leave something unobstructed or open.

   Please clear all this stuff off the table.

   The loggers came and cleared the trees.

   • 1711 November 6, Joseph Addison, The Spectator No. 215:

     […] Aristotle has brought to explain his Doctrine of Substantial Forms, when he tells us that a Statue lies hid in a Block of Marble; and that the Art of the statuary only clears away the superfluous Matter, and removes the Rubbish.

3. (intransitive) To leave abruptly; to clear off or clear out.
4. (intransitive) To become free from obstruction or obscurement; to become transparent.

5. (transitive) To eliminate ambiguity or doubt from (a matter); to clarify or resolve; to clear up.

6. (transitive) To remove from suspicion, especially of having committed a crime.
   • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy, Act III, scene v:

     How! Wouldst thou clear rebellion?

7. (transitive) To pass without interference; to miss.

8. (transitive, activities such as jumping or throwing) To exceed a stated mark.

9. (transitive, video games) To finish or complete (a stage, challenge, or game).

   I cleared the first level in 36 seconds.

10. (intransitive) Of a check or financial transaction, to go through as payment; to be processed so that the money is transferred.

11. (transitive, business) To earn a profit of; to net.
12. (transitive) To approve or authorise for a particular purpose or action; to give clearance to.

13. (transitive) To obtain approval or authorisation in respect of.

14. (intransitive) To obtain a clearance.

15. (transitive) To obtain permission to use (a sample of copyrighted audio) in another track.
16. To disengage oneself from incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free.
    • 1613, Francis Bacon, The E??aies (second edition), essay 18: “Of Expences”:

      Be?ides, he that cleares at once will relap?e: for finding him?elfe out of ?traights, he will reuert to his cu?tomes. But hee that cleareth by degrees, induceth an habite of frugality, and gaineth as well vpon his minde, as vpon his E?tate.

17. (transitive, intransitive, sports) To hit, kick, head, punch etc. (a ball, puck) away in order to defend one's goal.
18. (transitive, computing) To reset or unset; to return to an empty state or to zero.

19. (transitive, computing) To style (an element within a document) so that it is not permitted to float at a given position.

Synonyms

• (clear a forest): stub

Derived terms

• clear away
• clear off
• clear out
• clear up
• clearance
• clearing

Translations

Noun

clear (plural clears)

1. (carpentry) Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between walls.

   a room ten feet square in the clear

2. (video games) The completion of a stage or challenge, or of the whole game.

   It took me weeks to achieve a one-credit clear (1CC).

3. (Scientology) A person who is free from the influence of engrams.
   • 1985, Rodney Stark, William Sims Bainbridge, The Future of Religion (page 269)

     Today, clear status can be conferred only by high ranking ministers of the church, and clears are not presented for examination by outsiders.

References

• clear at OneLook Dictionary Search
• clear in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• 'clare, Carle, Clare, carle, lacer, recal