eliminate

[ ih-lim-uh-neyt ]

verb (used with object)

, e·lim·i·nat·ed, e·lim·i·nat·ing.

1. to remove or get rid of, especially as being in some way undesirable:

   to eliminate risks; to eliminate hunger.

   Synonyms: annihilate, exterminate, erase, eradicate, abolish, banish

   Antonyms: invite, get, obtain

2. to omit, especially as being unimportant or irrelevant; leave out:

   I have eliminated all statistical tables, which are of interest only to the specialist.

   Synonyms: exclude, except, delete, drop

   Antonyms: incorporate, admit, accept, include

3. to remove from further consideration or competition, especially by defeating in a contest.
4. to eradicate or kill:

   to eliminate the enemy.

5. Physiology. to void or expel from an organism.
6. Mathematics. to remove (a quantity) from an equation by elimination.

eliminate

/ ɪˈlɪmɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. to remove or take out; get rid of
2. to reject as trivial or irrelevant; omit from consideration
3. to remove (a competitor, team, etc) from a contest, usually by defeat
4. slang.
   to murder in a cold-blooded manner
5. physiol to expel (waste matter) from the body
6. maths to remove (an unknown variable) from two or more simultaneous equations

Usage

Eliminate is sometimes wrongly used to talk about avoiding the repetition of something undesirable: we must prevent (not eliminate ) further mistakes of this kind

Derived Forms

• eˈliminant, noun
• eˈlimiˌnator, noun
• eˌliminaˈbility, noun
• eˈliminable, adjective
• eˈliminative, adjective

Other Words From

• e·lim·i·na·bil·i·ty [ih-lim-, uh, -n, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
• e·limi·native adjective
• none·limi·native adjective
• pree·limi·nate verb (used with object) preeliminated preeliminating
• une·limi·nated adjective
• well-e·limi·nated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of eliminate¹

First recorded in 1560–70 and in 1915–20 eliminate fordef 4; from Latin ēlīminātus “turned out of doors” (past participle of ēlīmināre ), equivalent to ē- “from, out of” + līmin-, stem of līmen “threshold” + -ātus adjective suffix; e- ¹, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of eliminate¹

C16: from Latin ēlīmināre to turn out of the house, from e- out + līmen threshold

Example Sentences

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017 eliminated employee business expenses.

From Washington Post

Hinges pop the glass a centimeter off the frame and let air in, eliminating pesky fog.

From Outside Online

Chapple said the university will ultimately save money by eliminating the need to purchase “unnecessary plastics” and cutting down on recycling and garbage disposal fees.

From Washington Post

Unsure whether Metro would get another stimulus, board members planned for the worst, proposing a budget for fiscal 2022 that included buying out or laying off a fourth of Metro’s workforce, closing 19 stations and eliminating weekend rail service.

From Washington Post

They eliminate the need to run out to store for replacements, plus, they can be easily shared.

From Popular-Science

Third, the destruction: These hedge-fund managers want to eliminate all limits and oversight of charter schools.

From The Daily Beast

The authors took care to eliminate the possibility of other sources of polarization, which is always a concern in astronomy.

From The Daily Beast

The J in its name actually stands for Jian—annihilate, eliminate.

From The Daily Beast

He ran on a serious one-issue platform: eliminate the office of lieutenant governor.

From The Daily Beast

"I thought we should eliminate the office and save the state" what he estimates is $1 million in annual expenses.

From The Daily Beast

At all events we have made up our minds to eliminate the Jap, what with one motive and another, and I think we will.

From Project Gutenberg

Isabel's brain seemed to eliminate every thought it had ever possessed and hurriedly to remodel down to one agonizing point.

From Project Gutenberg

Eliminate the disgraceful epithet from your vocabulary, sir, when you are addressing yours truly.

From Project Gutenberg

But you seem to eliminate the young people themselves as factors in the romance part of it all.

From Project Gutenberg

The threads lying alternately on the whip and on metal at the notched ends eliminate any possibility of the parts working loose.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cancel
• defeat
• dispose of
• disqualify
• eradicate
• erase
• exclude
• get rid of
• ignore
• knock out
• oust
• phase out
• stamp out
• waive
• wipe out