dismissal

/dɪsˈmɪsəl/

/dɪsˈmɪsəl/

Other forms: dismissals

The act of sending someone away or firing them is dismissal. Your friend's dismissal from the pizza place where he kept dropping the dough on the floor means he's looking for a new job — preferably not in food service.

When a school bell rings at the end of the day, signaling that students can leave, that's one kind of dismissal. Bad news from a boss that the company is laying you off is also a dismissal, and when a judge rules that a trial is over and the case has been dropped, it's yet another kind of dismissal. The word comes from dismiss, "send away," from the Latin root dimittere, "send different ways" or "break up."

Definitions of dismissal

1. noun

   the sending away of someone; permission to go
   type of:

   permission

   approval to do something
2. noun

   a judgment disposing of the matter without a trial
   synonyms: judgement of dismissal, judgment of dismissal

   type of:

   judgement, judgment, judicial decision

   (law) the determination by a court of competent jurisdiction on matters submitted to it
3. noun

   official notice that you have been fired from your job
   synonyms: dismission, pink slip

   types:

   marching orders, walking papers

   (informal) a notice of dismissal or discharge

   type of:

   notice

   advance notification (usually written) of the intention to withdraw from an arrangement of contract
4. noun

   the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
   synonyms: discharge, dismission, firing, heave-ho, liberation, release, sack, sacking

   types:

   superannuation

   the act of discharging someone because of age (especially to cause someone to retire from service on a pension)

   conge, congee

   an abrupt and unceremonious dismissal

   removal

   dismissal from office

   deactivation, inactivation

   breaking up a military unit (by transfers or discharges)

   honorable discharge

   a discharge from the armed forces with a commendable record

   dishonorable discharge

   a discharge from the armed forces for a grave offense (as sabotage or espionage or cowardice or murder)

   Section Eight

   a discharge from the US Army based on unfitness or character traits deemed undesirable

   purge

   an abrupt or sudden removal of a person or group from an organization or place

   type of:

   conclusion, ending, termination

   the act of ending something