Word Direct Answers

What does "discuss" mean?

Discuss: To break up; to disperse; to scatter; to dissipate; to drive away; -- said especially of tumors. Many arts were used to discuss the beginnings of new affection. Sir H. Wotton. A pomade . . . of virtue to discuss pimples. Rambler.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To shake; to put away; to finish. [Obs.] All regard of shame she had discussed. Spenser.
  2. 3.To examine in detail or by disputation; to reason upon by presenting favorable and adverse considerations; to debate; to sift; to investigate; to ventilate. "We sat and . . . discussed the farm . . . and the price of grain." Tennyson. "To discuss questions of taste." Macaulay.
  3. 4.To deal with, in eating or drinking. [Colloq.] We sat quietly down and discussed a cold fowl that we had brought with us. Sir S. Baker.
  4. 5.(Law) To examine or search thoroughly; to exhaust a remedy against, as against a principal debtor before proceeding against the surety. Burrill. We speak of examining a subject when we ponder it with care, in order to discover its real state, or the truth respecting it. We speak of discussing a topic when we examine it thoroughly in its distinct parts. The word is very commonly applied to matters of opinion. We may discuss a subject without giving in an adhesion to any conclusion. We speak of debating a point when we examine it in mutual argumentation between opposing parties. In debate we contend for or against some conclusion or view.

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