terminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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terminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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terminated,
past participle, past
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terminating
present participle
-
to bring to an end; put an end to.
to terminate a contract.
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to occur at or form the conclusion of.
The countess's soliloquy terminates the play.
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to bound or limit spatially; form or be situated at the extremity of.
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to dismiss from a job; fire.
to terminate employees during a recession.
verb (used without object)
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terminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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terminated,
past participle, past
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terminating
present participle
-
to end, conclude, or cease.
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(of a train, bus, or other public conveyance) to end a scheduled run at a certain place.
This train terminates in New York.
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to come to an end (often followed by at, in, orwith ).
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to issue or result (usually followed byin ).
verb
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to form, be, or put an end (to); conclude
to terminate a pregnancy
their relationship terminated amicably
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(tr) to connect (suitable circuitry) to the end of an electrical transmission line to absorb the energy and avoid reflections
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(intr) maths (of a decimal expansion) to have only a finite number of digits
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slang (tr) to kill (someone)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonterminativeadjective
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self-terminatingadjective
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self-terminativeadjective
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terminativeadjective
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terminatoryadjective
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unterminatedadjective
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unterminatingadjective
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unterminativeadjective
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nonterminativelyadverb
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terminativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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terminatesimple
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terminatessimple
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have terminatedperfect
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has terminatedperfect
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am terminatingprogressive
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are terminatingprogressive
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is terminatingprogressive
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have been terminatingperfect progressive
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has been terminatingperfect progressive
Past
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terminatedsimple
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had terminatedperfect
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was terminatingprogressive
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were terminatingprogressive
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had been terminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of terminate
1580–90; verbal use of late Middle English terminate (adjective) “limited,” from Latin terminātus, past participle of termināre. See term, -ate 1
Explanation
To terminate something is to bring it to an end. Period. Full stop. In ancient Rome, Terminus was the God of landmarks, boundaries, and endings. That’s why his annual party took place at the end of the year. You can imagine the guests walking around in their togas, going, “This party is so great, I wish it would never terminate.” Nowadays, terminate can be used to refer to bringing anything to an end — including one's job or a product line: "When the Weird Food Company announces plans to terminate production of its deep-fried chocolate-covered pickle line, it will be a sad day for lovers of strange snacks."
Vocabulary lists containing terminate
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
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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.
See Examples For:
Because of both legal and reputational risks, frontier AI providers in the U.S. have incentives to monitor activity, refuse assistance and terminate malicious accounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
"We have not and do not terminate any of our employees for raising concerns," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
City and the Premier League reached a settlement in September 2025, with the club accepting the APT rules are valid and binding and both parties agreeing to terminate legal proceedings.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The agreement says the EPA “will not terminate, indefinitely suspend, or disallow costs for a covered grant.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“One minute ago I was speaking on the telephone to a colleague in Droitwich. Abruptly, I was obliged to apologize, and terminate the conversation. Now. Who can guess the reason?”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Pyburn, who also went undrafted after playing three years at Florida and his senior year at LSU, can regain his college eligibility if he terminates his contract with the Bucs and repays earnings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The risks include the possibility of deportation, or that an employer terminates a worker after discovering they don’t have valid work authorization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
A potential tenant terminates an agreement to advance up to $150 million for construction costs at Fermi’s Project Matador.
From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025
Meta is also on the hook with its promise to pay back investors in the Hyperion joint venture if it terminates its leases early.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 8, 2025
The route terminates at the city’s southeast border, close to Richard’s house.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
He was arrested by the FBI on 9 October and his contract with OpenAI has been terminated.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The former spouses, who share two teenage children, officially terminated their marriage on Oct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The company recently told some employees it had terminated three researchers who worked on its safety team, one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
His contract was terminated two months after he first raised concerns, but Soho House said this was unrelated to his complaints.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
It was not peaceful, for it was preceded by and would soon be terminated by the presence of Macon Dead.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
In certain ciliates, stop codons have evolved to specify amino acids instead of terminating protein production.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Fully insured, state-regulated plans require insurers to give you written notice before terminating coverage — usually 30 or 60 days.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is seeking treble damages, a court order barring the alleged anticompetitive practices and preliminary injunctive relief to prevent Amazon from terminating additional DSPs during the litigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
A spokeswoman for Cornyn was quoted by US media as saying he had reached an agreement with the Department of Justice over "permanently terminating" the anti-weaponization fund and clarifying the scope of the audit settlement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The thundering above woke her, terminating the void.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
