Meaning of disposal in English

disposal

noun [ U ]

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/dɪˈspoʊ.zəl/ uk

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/dɪˈspəʊ.zəl/

the act of getting rid of something, especially by throwing it away:

waste disposal

the disposal of hazardous substances

at sb's disposal B2 formal

available to be used by someone:

I would take you if I could, but I don't have a car at my disposal this week.

Having sold the house she had a large sum of money at her disposal (= to spend as she wanted).

More examples

Some cities in the world do not have proper facilities for the disposal of sewage.
Do you know what the regulations are for the disposal of pesticides and other chemicals?
These trash cans should not be used for the disposal of kitchen waste.
Efficient refuse disposal is essential for the health of society generally.
I wrapped the broken glass carefully in thick newspaper and took it outside for safe disposal.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Removing and getting rid of things

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

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(Definition of disposal from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

disposal | Intermediate English

disposal

noun [ U ]

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/dɪˈspoʊ·zəl/

the act of getting rid of something:

the disposal of toxic wastes

Idiom

at your disposal

(Definition of disposal from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

disposal | Business English

disposal

noun

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/dɪˈspəʊzəl/ us

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[ U ] ENVIRONMENT

the act or process of getting rid of something, especially by throwing it away:

This agency regulates the disposal of hazardous substances.

The manufacturing process is being changed in an effort to reduce waste disposal costs.

[ C or U ] FINANCE

something that is sold by a company, such an asset, property, or part of its business, or the act of doing this:

The company is looking at the disposal of non-core operations.

The official blamed lower sales on the disposal last year of assets that did not fit into the retail-and-luxury empire the company is trying to craft.

make a disposal The supermarkets group is required by the competition authorities to make disposals as a condition of the merger.

Sales by volume, excluding acquisitions and disposals, rose 3%, up from 2.5% in the first quarter.

No firm timetable was set for asset disposals.

The company has launched a disposal programme to generate cash.

[ U ] FINANCE, BANKING

a situation in which it is stated that a debt does not need to be paid or will never be paid:

The company also put aside 5.29 billion yen in reserves for disposal of bad debt.

at someone's disposal

available to someone:

Advertising and public relations specialists have a range of techniques at their disposal.

It's great that we have this innovative technology at our disposal.

The booming company has many billions at its disposal to fund new initiatives and acquisitions.

(Definition of disposal from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of disposal

disposal

There are warnings all over the package about proper disposal.

From CNN

Most of the lessons went over my head, even with the practice exercises (like homework), videos, and glossary at my disposal.

From VentureBeat

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

More examples Fewer examples

That is the very same logic world leaders are employing to promote today's ivory disposals.

From The Atlantic

It had practically no security forces at its disposal when it was born.

From The New York Review of Books

Or, at least, there are many people -- with much power and money at their disposal -- who are intent on reaching those places.

From WIRED

So to the degree the economy is challenged right now, it's not from lack of cash at the disposal of companies.

From NPR

The report cited longstanding problems that have yet to be overcome, such as exorbitant construction costs, and unresolved issues related to uranium waste disposal.

From Slate Magazine

The words that we have at our disposal affect what we see -- and the more words there are, the better our perception.

From The New Yorker

There are 5 major stages in the lifecycle of any garment: material, production, shipping, use and disposal.

From Huffington Post

Today, with so much more at our disposal, our instinct is not to push the boundaries of language, but to retreat.

From Fast Company

Collocations with disposal

disposal

These are words often used in combination with disposal.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

disposal facility

Again, the effects of the transport movements would also be an issue which would be considered at a public inquiry into a proposed disposal facility.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

disposal method

In contrast, landfill is often treated as a final disposal method.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

disposal option

For inland stations, return of wastes to supporting stations or ships was recommended; however if this were impracticable, disposal into deep ice pits was the preferred disposal option.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with disposal