Posted by John Nichols on November 03, 2004 at 22:18:55 from 165.91.196.110 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: despatch or dispatch posted by Dave Thewlis on November 03, 2004 at 14:43:27:
OED says dispatch is preferred over despatch in the online dictionary
Dispatch, Despatch
The act of dispatching.
1. The sending off (of a messenger, letter, etc.) on an errand or to a particular destination.
1600 E. BLOUNT tr. Conestaggio 280 Blaming him to have beene too slacke in the dispatch of the Armie. 1667 PEPYS Diary 10 June, So to Woolwich to give order for the dispatch of a ship I have taken under my care to see dispatched. 1805 T. LINDLEY Voy. Brazil (1808) 74 He deferred the dispatch of my note. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 457/1 The operations of the Post-office belonging to the dispatch of letters. 1856 FROUDE Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 70 The despatch of a French embassy to England. 1886 Postal Guide No. 119 title-p., Dates of Dispatch of Mails, etc. Ibid. 210 Dates of Despatch of Colonial and Foreign Mails.
2. Official dismissal or leave to go, given to an ambassador after completion of his errand; congé. Obs.
1571 St. Trials, Duke Norfolk (R.), After the dispatch of Rodolph, in Lent last, as he had made show before, that he intended to go over sea, and was all this while practising about this treason. 1603 KNOLLES Hist. Turks (1638) 161 To heare Embassadors from forrein Princes, and to giue them their dispatch. 1605 SHAKES. Lear II. i. 127 The seuerall Messengers From hence attend dispatch. 1698 FRYER Acc. E. India & P. 124, I easily condescended, thinking to procure my Dispatch with more speed.
3. Dismissal (of a suitor, etc.) after settlement of business; attention to or settlement of the business (of a person); see DISPATCH v. 3. Obs.
1550 CROWLEY Last Trumpet 936 If thou be a mans atturney..Let him not waite and spende money, If his dispatch do lie in the.
4. Making away with by putting to death; killing; death by violence.
happy dispatch, a humorous name for the Japanese form of suicide called HARA-KIRI.
1576 FLEMING Panopl. Epist. 315 Except I had followed you..the sorrowes..had quite overwhelmed me, and wrought my remedilesse dispatch. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 59 Tormentor come away, Make my dispatch the Tyrants feasting day. 1653 H. COGAN tr. Pinto's Trav. xv. 51 So furious and bloody a fight, that in less than a quarter of an hour we made a clean dispatch of them all. 1697 BP. PATRICK Comm. Exod. xii. 6 There were about two hours and a half for the Dispatch of all the Lambs. 1859 Times 26 Mar. 9/2 The Japanese are..taught..the science, mystery, or accomplishment of ‘Happy Dispatch’.
5. a. The getting (of business, etc.) out of hand; settlement, accomplishment; (prompt or speedy) execution. quick dispatch: prompt or speedy settlement of an affair; hence, in former use, promptitude in settling an affair, speed, expedition (= sense 6).
1581 G. PETTIE Guazzo's Civ. Conv. II. (1586) 101b Neither that he be lesse liberall of justice, or quick in dispatch towards them [the poore], than towards the rich. 1601 SHAKES. All's Well III. ii. 56 After some dispatch in hand at Court, Thither we bend againe. 1601 CORNWALLYES Ess. II. xlvi. (1631) 270 The miles which you must overcome before the dispatch of your journey. 1602 How Man may chuse a good Wife III. ii. in Old Eng. Drama (1824) 53 About it with what quick dispatch thou can'st. 1651 BAXTER Inf. Bapt. 214, I offered youTo Dispute publikely, only for quick dispatch. 1781 GIBBON Decl. & F. II. 75 In the dispatch of business, his diligence was indefatigable. 1833 H. MARTINEAU Manch. Strike vii. 73 Three members of the Committee sit daily for the dispatch of common business. 1863 H. COX Instit. I. vi. 41 If it be intended that Parliament should meet for dispatch of business. 1885 Act 48-49 Vict. c. 60. §10 Notwithstanding any vacancy..the Council shall be competent to proceed to the dispatch of business.
1837 CARLYLE Fr. Rev. I. III. i, In him is..only clerklike ‘despatch of business’ according to routine. 1860 MOTLEY Netherl. (1868) I. iii. 75 To his credit and dexterity they attribute the despatch of most things.
b. ‘Conduct, management’ (J.). Obs. rare.
1605 SHAKES. Macb. I. v. 69 You shall put This Nights great Businesse into my dispatch.
6. a. Prompt settlement or speedy accomplishment of an affair (= quick dispatch in 5). Also as a personal quality: Promptitude in dealing with affairs. b. Speed, expedition, haste, rapid progress.
a. 1607-12 BACON Ess., Dispatch (Arb.) 242 Measure not dispatch by the tymes of sitting, but by the advauncement of the busines. a1680 BUTLER Rem. (1759) II. 71 Dispatch is no mean Virtue in a Statesman. 1712 ADDISON Spect. No. 469 4 The Dispatch of a good Office is very often as beneficial to the Solicitor as the good Office itself.
b. 1573 TUSSER Husb. lxxxv. (1878) 174 Due season is best..Dispatch hath no fellow, make short and away. 1582 N. LICHEFIELD tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. xxxviii. 91b, The dispatch he made for the lading of our ships. 1636 DAVENANT Witts V. i, This is a time of great dispatch and haste. 1722 WOLLASTON Relig. Nat. ix. 206 The business he has to do grows urgent upon him, and calls for dispatch. 1793 SMEATON Edystone L. §132 We also made good dispatch with the cutting of the rock. 1865 CARLYLE Fredk. Gt. VIII. XVIII. xiv. 84 All turns on dispatch; loiter a little, and Friedrich himself will be here again!
1832 H. MARTINEAU Demerara i. 8 Covering them [the roots] with so much despatch.
7. The act of getting rid (of something), by sale, etc.; riddance, clearance, disposal; the act of putting away hastily. Obs.
1605 SHAKES. Lear I. ii. 33 Glou. What Paper were you reading? Bast. Nothing my Lord. Glou. No? what needed then that terrible dispatch of it into your Pocket? 1653 H. COGAN tr. Pinto's Trav. xiii. 41 In less than eight days he cleared his Warehouse..Now having made a full dispatch of all [etc.].
II. Concrete and transferred senses.
8. A written message sent off promptly or speedily; spec. an official communication relating to public affairs, usually conveyed by a special messenger.
1582 N. LICHEFIELD tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. xx. 52b, Nicholas Coello hauing receiued this dispatch, did forthwith depart, and that in hast. 1585 T. WASHINGTON tr. Nicholay's Voy. IV. xxi. 136 Messengers which carry ye ordinary dispatches from Raguse to Constantinople. 1660 F. BROOKE tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 309 Visier, keeper of the seale, who before he can seale any dispatch, must acquaint the grand Senior. 1782 Gentl. Mag. LII. 147 Captain Henry Edwin late of his Majesty's ship Russel, arrived here with dispatches from Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood. 1803 WELLESLEY Let. to Wellington 23 Dec. in Thornton Hist. India (1842) III. xviii. 358 note, I received this morning your dispatch of the 30th of November. 1809 WELLINGTON in Gurw. Desp. IV. 292 Excepting upon very important occasions I write my dispatches without making a draft. 1844 H. H. WILSON Brit. India I. 223 Sir John Malcolm..announced his arrival to the court, sending his dispatches by one of his officers. 1847 TENNYSON Princess IV. 360 Delivering seal'd dispatches which the Head took half-amazed.
1641 Nicholas Papers (Camden) 59, I have alsoe made an other despacth to the lords of the privie counsel by his Majesties command. 1838 THIRLWALL Greece IV. xxix. 87 They were called away by a despatch from the fleet at Cardia. 1865 LIVINGSTONE Zambesi vi. 135 The loss of the mail-bags, containing Government despatches and our friends' letters for the past year.
9. An agency or organization for the expeditious transmission of goods, etc.; a conveyance or vessel by which goods, parcels, or letters are dispatched.
1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2964/1 Died..Don Jean de Angulo, Secretary of the Universal Dispatch. 1703 Ibid. No. 3924/4 The Reprisal Dispatch, Jacob Green late Master, from New-England. 1861 [see 12]. Mod. The Merchants' Despatch; it was sent by despatch. (Cent. Dict.).
10. A body of persons (officially) sent to a particular destination. Obs.
1713 J. WARDER True Amazons 69 Dispatches of Guards are sent from the first Disturbance given.
11. slang. (pl.) A kind of false dice: = DISPATCHER 2.
1812 J. H. VAUX Flash Dict., Dispatches, false dice used by gamblers, so contrived as always to throw a nick. 1856 Times 27 Nov. 9/2 There are dice called ‘despatches’..A ‘despatch’ has two sides, double fours, double fives, and double sixes.
III. 12. attrib. and Comb., as dispatch-bearing, -carrier, -writer, -writing; dispatch-boat, -box, dispatch cock (see quots.); dispatch money (see quot. 1923); dispatch note, a memorandum required to be made in addition to the customs declaration for foreign parcel post; dispatch-rider, one who rides on horseback, bicycle, or motor-cycle to carry dispatches; so dispatch-riding; dispatch-tube (see quots.); dispatch-vessel = dispatch-boat.
1841 LEVER C. O'Malley xci. 443 In the mere details of note-writing or despatch-bearing.
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1794 Deb. Congress U.S. 20 Mar. (1849) l482 The President..[shall] be authorized to employ, as despatch-boats, such of the revenue cutters of the United States, as the public exigencies may require. 1874 KNIGHT Dict. Mech., Dispatch-boat, a name given to a swift vessel, formerly a fast sailer, now a small steamboat, used in dispatch duty.
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1864 WEBSTER, Dispatch-box, a box for carrying dispatches; a box for papers and other conveniences of a gentleman when travelling. 1889 Repent. P. Wentworth III. 267 Some papers he had just extracted from his despatch-box.
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1905 Daily Chron. 1 Aug. 3/1 A dispatch-carrier for the Foreign Office.
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1785 GROSE Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Spatch cock, abbreviation of a dispatch cock, an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion. 1834 West Ind. Sketch-bk. I. 299 These..dispatch cocks..are simply fowls cut down the back and expanded to the purposes of a grill..they afford an agreeable relief to an appetite that demands haste to be gratifiedwhence the name.
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1712 ADDISON Spect. No. 469 5 Gratifications, Tokens of Thankfulness, Dispatch Money, and the like specious Terms, are the Pretences under which Corruption..shelters itself. 1878 Law Jrnl. Rep. Q.B. XLVII. 513/1 If the Court shall be of opinion that..despatch-money.. is to be paid per working day of twelve hours. 1923 DE HART & BUCKNILL Maclachlan's Merchant Shipping (ed. 6) 428 Despatch money is a term which designates a payment which the Shipowner agrees to make for time saved out of the lay-days.
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1892 Post Office Guide Oct. 383 Parcels for Foreign Countries must..be accompanied by a Despatch Note. 1968 Ibid. 113 Despatch notes can be obtained beforehand from any post office which accepts parcels for abroad.
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1899 Daily News 18 Oct. 7/2 A report brought from the north by dispatch riders, via Vryburg. 1951 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IV. 267/2 The army dispatch-rider..proves invaluable for messages which cannot be sent by any other method.
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1907 Daily Chron. 10 Jan. 9/5 An interesting dispatch-riding test from Newcastle and London to Manchester.
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1861 Engineer XII. 51/3 (title) The Pneumatic Despatch. Ibid., The loads, in the pneumatic despatch tubes do not much exceed half-a-ton, unless the despatch carriages are coupled in trains of two or more. 1874 KNIGHT Dict. Mech. s.v. Atmospheric Railway, A late act of Congress (1872) appropriates $15,000 for a pneumatic dispatch-tube between the Capitol and the Government Printing-Office, Washington. Ibid., Dispatch-tube, a tube in which letters or parcels are transported by a current of air.
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1809 Deb. Congress U.S. 21 Feb. (1853) 432 There may be time for the despatch vessel to go to France and return.
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1889 Sat. Rev. 26 Jan. 104/1 Despatch-writing had not yet become part of the art of war.
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