Understanding ‘Dispense’: Boost Your IELTS Score to 6.5
Learn the meaning, usage, and common errors of the word ‘dispense’ to enhance your IELTS vocabulary. This video covers the word’s definition, history, antonyms, synonyms, and provides practical examples to help you use it correctly in your speaking and writing tasks.
Imagine you’re at a pharmacy, waiting for your prescription. The pharmacist takes a bottle, counts out pills, and hands them to you.
What they’ve just done is dispense your medication. Today, we’re exploring the word dispense, an important term for IELTS learners aiming for a band score of six point five.
Word type: Dispense is primarily used as a verb.
Meaning: To dispense means to distribute or provide a service or product to others.
It often implies giving out in fixed amounts or from a limited supply. In a broader sense, it can also mean to exempt someone from a rule or to manage without something.
Word history: The word dispense comes from the Latin word dispensare, which means to disburse or distribute.
It entered the English language in the fourteenth century through Old French.
Antonyms: Antonyms for dispense include withhold, refuse, and deny.
Synonyms: Synonyms for dispense include distribute, give out, provide, supply, and administer.
Examples use in sentences:
Let’s look at some examples of how to use dispense in sentences. The vending machine dispenses snacks and drinks.
The judge can dispense justice according to the law. The teacher dispensed advice to her students before the exam.
During the drought, the government had to dispense water carefully. Common errors in use: One common error when using dispense is confusing it with dispose.
While dispense means to distribute or give out, dispose means to get rid of something. For example, you would say The pharmacist dispenses medicine, not The pharmacist disposes medicine.
Another mistake is using dispense with when it should be dispense with. To dispense with means to do without or to get rid of.
For instance, We can dispense with the formalities and get straight to business. Mastering words like dispense can significantly improve your IELTS score.
Remember, dispense means to distribute or provide, and it’s often used in contexts involving services, products, or abstract concepts like justice or advice.
Practice using this word in your speaking and writing tasks to demonstrate your vocabulary range and boost your chances of achieving that six point five band score.
