eliminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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eliminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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eliminated,
past participle, past
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eliminating
present participle
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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
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to omit, especially as being unimportant or irrelevant; leave out.
I have eliminated all statistical tables, which are of interest only to the specialist.
- Antonyms:
- incorporate, admit, accept, include
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to remove from further consideration or competition, especially by defeating in a contest.
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to eradicate or kill.
to eliminate the enemy.
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Physiology. to void or expel from an organism.
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Mathematics. to remove (a quantity) from an equation by elimination.
verb
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to remove or take out; get rid of
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to reject as trivial or irrelevant; omit from consideration
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to remove (a competitor, team, etc) from a contest, usually by defeat
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slang to murder in a cold-blooded manner
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physiol to expel (waste matter) from the body
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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eliminabilitynoun
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eliminantnoun
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eliminatornoun
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preeliminateverb (used with object)
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eliminableadjective
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eliminativeadjective
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noneliminativeadjective
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uneliminatedadjective
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well-eliminatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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eliminatesimple
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eliminatessimple
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have eliminatedperfect
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has eliminatedperfect
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am eliminatingprogressive
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are eliminatingprogressive
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is eliminatingprogressive
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have been eliminatingperfect progressive
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has been eliminatingperfect progressive
Past
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eliminatedsimple
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had eliminatedperfect
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was eliminatingprogressive
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were eliminatingprogressive
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had been eliminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of eliminate
First recorded in 1560–70 and in 1915–20 eliminate 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, -ate 1
Explanation
As eliminate means "get rid of or do away with," it has become used to refer to the end of a problem or even an entire species. We need to eliminate sources of pollution in order to maintain a healthy world. The original literal meaning of eliminate was "to thrust over the threshold and out of doors, to kick out," but the 18th century saw the word expand to mean "to exclude," and later to ridding the body of waste. The verb then came to refer to getting rid of anything, such as a problem or foul odor. The word took an ominous turn in the 20th century, when we saw man-made pollution eliminate whole species, and war, hate, and famine nearly eliminate whole groups of people.
Vocabulary lists containing eliminate
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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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:
Treatments designed to eliminate amyloid plaques have significantly changed how Alzheimer's is managed in recent years.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
The upscale outdoor mall survived the Palisades fire, but needed refurbishment to eliminate any potential contaminants from the blaze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
We can’t eliminate normalcy bias, but we can learn to recognize warning signs before they become emergencies.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
But taken together, thousands of decisions to eliminate small inconveniences can also eliminate opportunities for connection.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
That started a decon cycle running in the air lock that would eliminate any hot agents that might have leaked into the air lock as they were going through.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
One of the main ways the body eliminates unwanted cells is through apoptosis, a carefully controlled form of cellular "suicide."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
A sausage-and-pepper meal starter eliminates most of the chopping; canned tomatoes provide the sauce’s backbone; and a few spoonfuls of prepared sun-dried tomato pesto pull everything into focus.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
The action "eliminates the final major barriers for private sector investment in Syria and promotes Syria's economic recovery and reintegration into the global economy," he said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
However, there is less robust evidence on the effectiveness of delaying school , externalentry and whether it eliminates the summer-born disadvantage, with policymakers still relying heavily on parental testimony.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Pushing the not next to the phrase it negates eliminates the scope ambiguity.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Several reports seemed to support his claims, citing data from internet monitoring service Cloudflare, that allegedly showed “Russia’s Yandex bot traffic nearly eliminated overnight.”
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026
It estimates how much energy the body extracts before food reaches the colon, how much energy microbes produce from the remaining material, and how much ultimately gets absorbed or eliminated.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
The eliminated couple will appear on It Takes Two on Monday.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
At airports where it tested out new technology and procedures this summer, involuntary bumping was eliminated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
To make matters worse, dramatic technological changes revolutionized the workplace—changes that eliminated many of the jobs that less skilled workers once relied upon for their survival.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
If the findings hold up, CBL-514 could represent a different strategy for obesity treatment, one focused on eliminating fat cells rather than simply reducing the amount of fat they contain.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Election authorities say the revision was aimed at eliminating duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
By eliminating the Braves without needing the full five games, the Dodgers afforded themselves three days off, rather than one, before the league championship series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
It is also making it clear to employees that eliminating bumping is now a requirement, not a goal, according to a memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
To the trackers, the words were as meaningful as scat or broken twigs, signs of the girl’s passage but nothing more, and Tanin kept it that way, eliminating every letter they found.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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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.
