Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIS-POSE', v.t. [dispo'ze; Fr. disposer; dis and poser, to place; Arm. disposi; L. dispositus, dispono.]

1. To set; to place or distribute; to arrange; used with reference to order. The ships were disposed in the form of a crescent. The general disposed his troops in three lines. The trees are disposed in the form of a quincunx.
2. To regulate; to adjust; to set in right order. – Job xxxiv. and xxxvii. The knightly forms of combat to dispose. – Dryden.
3. To apply to a particular purpose; to give; to place; to bestow; as, you have disposed much in works of public piety. In this sense, to dispose of is more generally used.
4. To set, place or turn to a particular end or consequence. Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose / To future good our past and present woes. – Dryden.
5. To adapt; to form for any purpose. Then must thou thee dispose another way. – Hubberd's Tale.
6. To set the mind in a particular frame; to incline. Avarice disposes men to fraud and oppression. Suspicion disposes kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, and wise men to irresolution and melancholy. – Bacon. He was disposed to pass into Achaia. – Acts xviii. 1 Cor. x. 27 To dispose of, to part with; to alienate; as, the man has disposed of his house, and removed. #2. To part with to another; to put into another's hand or power; to bestow; as, the father has disposed of his daughter to a man of great worth. #3. To give away or transfer by authority. A rural judge disposed of beauty's prize. – Waller. #4. To direct the course of a thing. – Prov. xvi. #5. To place in any condition; as, how will you dispose of your son? #6. To direct what to do or what course to pursue; as, they know not how to dispose of themselves. #7. To use or employ; as, they know not how to dispose of their time. #8. To put away. The stream supplies more water than can be disposed of.