All 7 Uses

dissertation
in
To the Lighthouse
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He worked hard—seven hours a day; his subject was now the influence of something upon somebody—they were walking on and Mrs. Ramsay did not quite catch the meaning, only the words, here and there...dissertation...fellowship...readership...lectureship.†
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Tansley had had to go in and write his dissertation, he said.†
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"James will have to write HIS dissertation one of these days," he added ironically, flicking his sprig.†
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except that she had decided, rightly, Mrs. Ramsay thought (and she was very, very fond of Minta), to accept that good fellow, who might not be brilliant, but then, thought Mrs. Ramsay, realising that James was tugging at her, to make her go on reading aloud the Fisherman and his Wife, she did in her own heart infinitely prefer boobies to clever men who wrote dissertations; Charles Tansley, for instance.†
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"Oh, he has his dissertation to write," said Mr. Ramsay.†
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They did not bother one with their dissertations.†
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Still, he had his dissertation, the influence of somebody upon something: he could take care of himself.†
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Definitions:

(1) (dissertation)
a lengthy academic paper -- especially a scholarly work required for an advanced academic degree
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)