liquidate

[lik-wi-deyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR liquidate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), liq·ui·dat·ed, liq·ui·dat·ing.

to settle or pay (a debt): to liquidate a claim.

to reduce (accounts) to order; determine the amount of (indebtedness or damages).

to convert (inventory, securities, or other assets) into cash.

to get rid of, especially by killing: to liquidate the enemies of the regime.

to break up or do away with: to liquidate a partnership.

verb (used without object), liq·ui·dat·ed, liq·ui·dat·ing.

to liquidate debts or accounts; go into liquidation.

Origin of liquidate

1565–75; 1920–25 for def 4; < Late Latin liquidātus, past participle of liquidāre to melt, make clear. See liquid, -ate¹

Related formsnon·liq·ui·dat·ing, adjectivepre·liq·ui·date, verb (used with object), pre·liq·ui·dat·ed, pre·liq·ui·dat·ing.re·liq·ui·date, verb, re·liq·ui·dat·ed, re·liq·ui·dat·ing.un·liq·ui·dat·ed, adjectiveun·liq·ui·dat·ing, adjective

Synonyms for liquidate

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR liquidate ON THESAURUS.COM

1. discharge, clear, erase, cancel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for liquidate

reimburse, convert, repay, quit, annul, exterminate, abolish, eliminate, cancel, satisfy, square, exchange, clear, cash, honor, settle, discharge, realize, murder, vaporize

Examples from the Web for liquidate

Contemporary Examples of liquidate

“Economic diversity,” by contrast, brings economic difference into higher education in order to liquidate the difference.
When Diversity Fails the Poor
Jedediah Purdy
September 28, 2014
It is not enough to liquidate the most brutal forms of power and tell people they are now free.
Daenerys Goes to Washington: The Modern Politics of ‘Game of Thrones’
Jedediah Purdy
April 8, 2014
When a business runs into this sort of problem, we know what to do: liquidate and sell off the non-performing assets.
Saving Detroit: When a Big City Stops Being Big
Megan McArdle
May 13, 2013
As workers went on strike and the company threatened to liquidate, Hostess was essentially crippled.
Twinkies Are Coming Back: The Metropoulos Brothers on the Brand
Daniel Gross
April 8, 2013
Stockman both predicts imminent raging inflation and urges investors to liquidate their investors and hide in cash.
When It's Time to Stop Talking About Politics
David Frum
March 31, 2013

Historical Examples of liquidate

Where did you obtain the money that you applied to liquidate, or partially to liquidate, your debts?
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
Which the same being the case, I invite all to come forward and liquidate.
A Waif of the Mountains
Edward S. Ellis
His throat was dry and he proposed to liquidate his unusual exertion.
The Fighting Edge
William MacLeod Raine
Now, my love, duty requires that I should at once begin to liquidate.
Under the Waves
R M Ballantyne
There was only one thing to do—root them out, liquidate them.
Empire
Clifford Donald Simak

British Dictionary definitions for liquidate

liquidate

verb

to settle or pay off (a debt, claim, etc)
to determine by litigation or agreement the amount of (damages, indebtedness, etc)

to terminate the operations of (a commercial firm, bankrupt estate, etc) by assessment of liabilities and appropriation of assets for their settlement
(of a commercial firm, etc) to terminate operations in this manner

(tr) to convert (assets) into cash

(tr) to eliminate or kill

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

Word Origin and History for liquidate

1570s, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (of accounts), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid or clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus (see liquid). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat. Related: Liquidated; liquidating.