despatch

Multiple Entries:
  despatch    dispatch  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
despatch

▶verb & noun Brit. variant spelling of dispatch.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dispatch /dɪˈspatʃ/ (Brit. also despatch)

▶verb

• 1 send off to a destination or for a purpose.

• 2 deal with (a task or problem) quickly and efficiently.

• 3 kill.

▶noun

• 1 an instance of dispatching.

• 2 an official report on state or military affairs.

  ■ a report sent in from abroad by a journalist.

• 3 promptness and efficiency: he should proceed with dispatch.

– derivatives
dispatcher noun.

– origin C16: from Ital. dispacciare or Sp. despachar ‘expedite’.