abolish
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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abolishernoun
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abolishmentnoun
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abolishableadjective
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unabolishableadjective
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unabolishedadjective
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well-abolishedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abolishsimple
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abolishessimple
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have abolishedperfect
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has abolishedperfect
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am abolishingprogressive
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are abolishingprogressive
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is abolishingprogressive
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have been abolishingperfect progressive
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has been abolishingperfect progressive
Past
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abolishedsimple
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had abolishedperfect
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was abolishingprogressive
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were abolishingprogressive
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had been abolishingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
To abolish is to get rid of or annul. So when the principal yells at you for the 100th time for not having your shirt tucked in, it's safe to wish they'd just abolish the silly dress code. The word abolish might stir up some historical connotations, since in the U.S. it's commonly associated with bringing an end to slavery. In fact, those who opposed slavery were called "abolitionists." The word comes to us from the Latin word abolere, meaning "to destroy or cause to die out." These days abolish is used to bring a final and official-sounding end to laws, codes, and unsavory practices.
Vocabulary lists containing abolish
The Declaration of Independence
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List 1
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Life Is So Good
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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.
When voters hear that, Cruz wrote at the time, “a lot of voters just hear ‘abolish education’ and back away.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2015
That is no answer to the criticism that the only law now needed was one to 'abolish and extinguish' the persecuting laws which had been enacted of old.
From John Knox by Innes, A. Taylor
Mr Hagerup acknowledged later that the expressions in reality meant the same, as the conception of the word ’alter’, must necessarily include the conception of the word ’abolish’.
From The Swedish-Norwegian Union Crisis A History with Documents by Nordlund, Karl
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.
