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My mother tongue isn't English, and recently I came across this expression:

You have a collection of smileys at your disposal.

For me, the word disposal means "discarding some waste, throwing something away, getting rid of something".

I have been searching the web, and I found a Collins Dictionairy's (online, british version) description:

Disposal (noun) - the power or opportunity to make use of someone or something (esp in the phrase at one's disposal)

That matches the use I have mention before, but for me, it still sounds wrong.

Is the expression "having something at your disposal" correct?

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it still sounds wrong

It sounds perfectly normal to me and it's used reasonably commonly.

As a programmer, I have a number of useful tools at my disposal including a powerful IDE and a well documented API.

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  • Thank you. It is the first time I came across and it sounded kind of weird to me.
    – Arcsn
    Oct 21, 2015 at 16:26
  • You're welcome, but no need to say thanks on Stack Exchange. You should just accept (click the little green tick) and optionally upvote if you found an answer helpful.
    – James Webster
    Oct 21, 2015 at 16:27
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    Completely normal to me as well (a Brit). Many words in English can mean different things depending on context.
    – ssav
    Oct 21, 2015 at 16:28
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    @Arcsn it is not advisable to accept an answer so soon. Please read this help section.
    – Usernew
    Oct 21, 2015 at 16:29
  • @Usernew, I accept answers as soon as receive an answer that answers [my] question well
    – James Webster
    Oct 21, 2015 at 16:31

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