Discharge - Definition and Overview

The term discharge can have several meanings in different contexts:

• To discharge a weapon is to fire it.
• A military discharge is issued when a member of the armed forces is released from service.
• In healthcare, discharge represents the end point of an inpatient hospital contact which consists of one or several days of care, such as a hospital separation.
• In medicine, discharge is puss or exudite (other than blood) from a wound or orifice, usually due to infection or other pathology.
• In electricity, a flow of current, as in an electrostatic discharge or a corona discharge.
• In electricity, a state of depletion of an electric battery or capacitor, said to be discharged.
• In hydrology, the average discharge of a river means the amount of water flowing through the river.
• In music, Discharge was a British punk rock band.