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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word dispatch distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of dispatch are assassinate, execute, kill, murder, and slay. While all these words mean "to deprive of life," dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death.

dispatched the sentry with one bullet

When might assassinate be a better fit than dispatch?

While the synonyms assassinate and dispatch are close in meaning, assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives.

terrorists assassinated the Senator

When could execute be used to replace dispatch?

The synonyms execute and dispatch are sometimes interchangeable, but execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty.

executed by lethal gas

Where would kill be a reasonable alternative to dispatch?

In some situations, the words kill and dispatch are roughly equivalent. However, kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner.

killed in an accident
frost killed the plants

When is it sensible to use murder instead of dispatch?

The words murder and dispatch are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility.

convicted of murdering a rival

When is slay a more appropriate choice than dispatch?

The meanings of slay and dispatch largely overlap; however, slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive.

slew thousands of the Philistines

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dispatch
Verb
When a major hurricane, wildfire or other crisis hits, the NRCC helps coordinate everything from getting rescue teams on the ground to dispatching food, water and medical supplies to disaster zones. Michael Kaplan, CBS News, 11 June 2025 Meanwhile, the Trump administration has dispatched 700 Marines to LA and increased the California National Guard presence to 4,000, despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom's objections. Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 10 June 2025
Noun
It’s signed, sealed, delivered, and just waiting to be stuffed with handwritten, long-distance dispatches. Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 3 June 2025 According to that historic dispatch, the Shelby American squad saw the pairings of Ken Miles with Deny Hulme, Dan Gurney with Jerry Grant, and Bruce McLaren with Chris Amon. Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 2 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for dispatch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dispatch
Verb
  • In both January and March 2025, the vehicles used in the tests instead met their demise in dramatic explosions that sent cascades of fiery debris streaking across the sky in Caribbean countries and Florida – disrupting air traffic.
    Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 21 June 2025
  • Sale threw 116 pitches in that game — one shy of the MLB season-high for any pitcher — and didn’t say anything about the injury or soreness afterward, but was sent for tests after the soreness lingered.
    David O'Brien, New York Times, 21 June 2025
Verb
  • An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London has been canceled days after the fatal crash that killed 241 people on board.
    Barney Henderson, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 June 2025
  • In the moments after the chase, Rivera was shot and killed by her own partner, authorities have said.
    Sam Charles, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • This is the regime that took Americans hostage and helped support groups that killed hundreds of U.S. service members throughout the Middle East and that has plotted to assassinate Trump.
    The Editors, National Review, 18 June 2025
  • The Israel Defense Forces have assassinated senior leaders in Iran’s proxy organizations, including much of Hezbollah’s mid- and high-level leadership.
    Robert A. Pape, Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • This article gives her plenty of credit for defeating Sabalenka.
    James Hansen, New York Times, 21 June 2025
  • Leon made the team, and Canada went on to defeat Sweden in penalty kicks for the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer.
    Fernando Ramirez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 June 2025
Noun
  • Marlena was called into truancy court by a letter that threatened jail or a $10,000 fine.
    Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 16 June 2025
  • As literacy expanded to new social strata, and new periodicals circulated among increasingly diverse publics, what letter writers could divulge and columnists could discuss changed.
    Merve Emre, New Yorker, 16 June 2025
Noun
  • Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service, which went live in January 2024, is designed to help protect players by detecting and filtering out abusive messages through a combination of AI and human analysts.
    Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 17 June 2025
  • All New Yorkers must speak in one voice and share one message: release Brad now.
    Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • To destroy the site, an attack would have to come in waves, with bombers releasing one after another down the same hole.
    Samuel Granados, New York Times, 20 June 2025
  • But the conflict has only escalated, with Russia’s launching some of its most extensive strikes in a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of casualties, and Ukraine’s carrying out the audacious Operation Spiderweb drone attack, which damaged or destroyed strategic aircraft inside Russia.
    Adam Rasmi, Time, 20 June 2025
Verb
  • Richard Veasey, The Future Lasts Forever: A Memoir The French political theorist Althusser famously murdered his wife and, deemed mentally unfit, avoided a trial and was assigned a guardian.
    Diana Arterian June 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
  • When two suicide truck bombs exploded at the barracks of multinational forces in Lebanon, 220 Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors and three U.S. Army soldiers were killed, and 58 French troops were murdered.
    Beth Bailey, FOXNews.com, 18 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dispatch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dispatch. Accessed 29 Jun. 2025.

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