[Ads-l] an unrecorded sense of "dismiss"?

[George Thompson]

An ad for "A BATHING MACHINE, Upon the plan of those used at Margate, and
other Watering-places in England" stipulates "It is expected that Gentlemen
Subscribers will rise early enough to dismiss the machine for the use of
the Ladies, and those that do not, will wait till the Ladies retire."
     Royal Gazette [New York, N. Y.], April 18, 1778, p. 3, col. 4

This seems to be a sense of "dismiss" not in the OED.  I see

*   2 **b.* *transf.* To send forth (a thing); to let go; to give issue or
egress to.  (Exx. are  Life (twice), a stone &  the great optic nerves)

*    3 **b.* To discharge from service (a hired vehicle, etc.). (The  exx.
are ships & a coach.);
    &  *7 *To put away, lay aside, divest oneself of, get rid of. (Now
*rare* with regard to things material.)  (The exx. incl.: Fetters, Wings
(by a God) & incumbrances (in financial matters)
but the sense here is to leave a place or to cease making use of a thing.

GAT



*1 a.* *trans.* To send away in various directions, disperse, dissolve (a
gathering of people, etc.); to disband (an army, etc.).

*b.* *intr.* (for *refl.*) To disperse from ordered assembly; to break
ranks by word of command.



*2 a.* *trans.* To send away (a person); to give permission to go; to bid
depart.

*b.* *transf.* To send forth (a thing); to let go; to give issue or egress
to.



*3 a.* To send away or remove from office, employment, or position; to
discharge, discard, expel. Const. *from*, †*of*, and double *obj.*

*b.* To discharge from service (a hired vehicle, etc.).  exx.: ships & a
coach



*7 *To put away, lay aside, divest oneself of, get rid of. (Now *rare* with
regard to things material.)  exx. incl.: Fetters, Wings (by a God) &
incumbrances (in financial matters)


and others clearly not relevant.

-- 
George A. Thompson
The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998..

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