elimination
Americannoun
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the act of eliminating.
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the state of being eliminated.
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Mathematics. the process of solving a system of simultaneous equations by using various techniques to remove the variables successively.
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Sports. a game, bout, or match in a tournament in which an individual or team is eliminated from the competition after one defeat.
noun
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the act of eliminating or the state of being eliminated
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logic (qualified by the name of an operation) a syntactic rule specifying the conditions under which a formula or statement containing the specified operation may permit the derivation of others that do not contain it
conjunction-elimination
universal elimination
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chem a type of chemical reaction involving the loss of a simple molecule, such as water or carbon dioxide
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of elimination
Explanation
Elimination is the process of getting rid of something, whether it’s waste, errors, or the competition. Elimination comes from the Latin word limen, which means threshold. The Romans added an “e” to the beginning and created the verb eliminare, which means to banish or to push over the threshold and out the door. If you solve a multiple-choice question on a test using the process of elimination, you rule out the wrong possibilities one by one until you find the right answer.
Vocabulary lists containing elimination
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
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On Your Mark, Get Set, Commence Your Life!
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"Amigo Brothers" and "Lean on Me"
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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.
Much has happened three days into the elimination stages of this World Cup.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
After stumbling in the group-play final, which Turkey won with a goal deep in stoppage time, the U.S. will have no room for error in its first elimination game.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
"This is the third elimination in a row, so we are not part of the first-class teams any more."
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Barring the surprise elimination of Uruguay, it was essentially a 72-game exercise in chipping away 16 of the smaller countries to create a knockout competition.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Home in his apartment in Brooklyn, Bobby went through what was becoming his routine: elimination of social engagements, long periods of solitary study, analysis of games, and a search for innovations in openings.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
