eliminate

[ ih-lim-uh-neyt ]
See synonyms for: eliminateeliminatedeliminateseliminating on Thesaurus.com

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.

  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.

  1. to remove from further consideration or competition, especially by defeating in a contest.

  2. to eradicate or kill: to eliminate the enemy.

  3. Physiology. to void or expel from an organism.

  4. Mathematics. to remove (a quantity) from an equation by elimination.

Origin of eliminate

1
First recorded in 1560–70 and in 1915–20 for def. 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; see e-1, -ate1

Other words for eliminate

1 do away with, banish, abolish, eradicate, erase, exterminate, cut out, annihilate, weed out, stamp out, rub out
2 throw out, exclude, drop, delete, except
See synonyms for eliminate on Thesaurus.com

Opposites for eliminate

Other words from eliminate

  • e·lim·i·na·bil·i·ty [ih-lim-uh-nuh-bil-i-tee], /ɪˌlɪm ə nəˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun
  • e·lim·i·na·tive, adjective
  • non·e·lim·i·na·tive, adjective
  • pre·e·lim·i·nate, verb (used with object), pre·e·lim·i·nat·ed, pre·e·lim·i·nat·ing.
  • un·e·lim·i·nat·ed, adjective
  • well-e·lim·i·nat·ed, adjective

Words Nearby eliminate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use eliminate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for eliminate

eliminate

/ (ɪˈlɪmɪˌneɪt) /


verb(tr)
  1. to remove or take out; get rid of

  2. to reject as trivial or irrelevant; omit from consideration

  1. to remove (a competitor, team, etc) from a contest, usually by defeat

  2. slang to murder in a cold-blooded manner

  3. physiol to expel (waste matter) from the body

  4. maths to remove (an unknown variable) from two or more simultaneous equations

Origin of eliminate

1
C16: from Latin ēlīmināre to turn out of the house, from e- out + līmen threshold

usage For eliminate

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 of eliminate

  • eliminable, adjective
  • eliminability, noun
  • eliminant, noun
  • eliminative or eliminatory, adjective
  • eliminator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012