abolish
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Related Words
Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots ), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
Other Word Forms
- abolishable adjective
- abolisher noun
- abolishment noun
- unabolishable adjective
- unabolished adjective
- well-abolished adjective
Etymology
Origin of abolish
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir, from Latin abolēre “to destroy, efface”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 1799, New York had begun the gradual process of abolishing slavery.
From Literature
He threatened to abolish Strategic Response Group, which keeps protesters safe and does much more.
If we abolish SRG, we will have to reinvent it later.
He argued some councils were worried about delivering the major reorganisation at the same time as running elections for authorities due to be abolished within two years.
From BBC
When Britain abolished slavery, many of the local inhabitants stayed on, numbering in the low thousands across several islands.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
