From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdismissdis‧miss /dɪsˈmɪs/ ●●○ W3 verb [transitive] 1 IDEAREJECT/NOT ACCEPTto refuse to consider someone’s idea, opinion etc, because you think it is not serious, true, or important The government has dismissed criticisms that the country’s health policy is a mess.dismiss something as something He just laughed and dismissed my proposal as unrealistic. It’s an idea that shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand (=dismissed immediately and completely).2 JOBBEto remove someone from their job SYN fire, sackdismiss somebody from something Bryant was unfairly dismissed from his post.dismiss somebody for something Employees can be dismissed for sending obscene emails.RegisterIn everyday British English, people usually say sack someone, and in everyday American English, people usually say fire someone, rather than use dismiss:He was sacked (British English)/fired (American English) for being late all the time.3 SEND AWAYLEAVE A PLACE formal to tell someone that they are allowed to go, or are no longer needed The class was dismissed early today.4 IN A COURTSCLif a judge dismisses a court case, he or she stops it from continuing The case was dismissed owing to lack of evidence.5 SPORTDSCto end the innings of a player or team in the game of cricketCOLLOCATIONSnounsdismiss an idea/suggestionBoth actors dismissed any idea of a romantic relationship between them.dismiss a notion formal (=idea)The Minister dismissed the notion that he had cut petrol tax because of the forthcoming by-election.dismiss a possibilityThe prime minister dismissed the possibility of an early election.dismiss a claimAn industrial tribunal dismissed his claim of unfair discrimination.dismiss an allegation/chargeShe claimed that she was honest and dismissed the allegations against her.dismiss a thoughtWas he lying? I tried to dismiss the thought.dismiss fearsThe Transport Minister dismissed fears that the Cotswold railway line would close.dismiss criticismHe dismissed criticism of the country's human rights record.adverbseasily/lightly (=without much thought)This is a question that cannot be dismissed lightly.phrasesdismiss something out of hand (=immediately, without thinking about it)It's an interesting idea so don't dismiss it out of hand. → See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
dismiss• The thin man poked the children and asked questions which the doctor dismissed.• The murder charge against Beckwith has been dismissed.• Richards dismissed criticism that the Red Cross has not educated the public about AIDS.• We can not dismiss evil as some vague spiritual force that presides outside of human behavior.• The company, which has dismissed most of its staff, said it had debt of $ 274 million.• The judge dismissed most of the police evidence, saying it was clearly fabricated.• He dismissed newspaper reports that he had expressed concern about the possibility of a recession.• The argument for higher tariffs cannot be dismissed out of hand.• After careful consideration of all the evidence and relevant law the Tribunal either upholds or dismisses the appeal.• That is how it dismisses the coal industry.• One leader dismissed the conference's findings on the environment as unproven.• When this became tiresome, he tried to dismiss the game altogether, only to find that he could not.dismiss something as something• Some doctors still dismiss the disease as being just another type of flu.unfairly dismissed• Are you able to claim any additional compensation if you have been unfairly dismissed?• Employees are scared to enforce their rights because if they did they would be unfairly dismissed.• He said something about they'd been unfairly dismissed.• Once the protection is acquired, the employee can make a claim that he or she has been unfairly dismissed.• They will both claim that they were unfairly dismissed because the other was the culprit but that is not the issue.• The tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed from her £14,000-a-year job at the union's regional headquarters in Edge Lane, Liverpool.• If a person is unfairly dismissed he may be awarded compensation.From Longman Business Dictionarydismissdis‧miss /dɪsˈmɪs/ verb [transitive]1HUMAN RESOURCESto remove someone from their job, usually because they have done something wrongHe was dismissed from his job at a bank for repeatedly turning up to work late.2LAW to state officially that a court case cannot continue because there is not enough evidence against the accused personThe prosecution offered no evidence and the case was dismissed.→ See Verb tableOrigin dismiss (1400-1500) Latin dimissus, past participle of dimittere “to send away” 