liquidate
Americanverb (used with object)
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liquidates,
present (3rd person singular)
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liquidated,
past participle, past
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liquidating
present participle
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to settle or pay (a debt).
to liquidate a claim.
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to reduce (accounts) to order; determine the amount of (indebtedness or damages).
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to convert (inventory, securities, or other assets) into cash.
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to get rid of, especially by killing.
to liquidate the enemies of the regime.
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to break up or do away with.
to liquidate a partnership.
verb (used without object)
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liquidates,
present (3rd person singular)
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liquidated,
past participle, past
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liquidating
present participle
verb
-
-
to settle or pay off (a debt, claim, etc)
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to determine by litigation or agreement the amount of (damages, indebtedness, etc)
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-
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to terminate the operations of (a commercial firm, bankrupt estate, etc) by assessment of liabilities and appropriation of assets for their settlement
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(of a commercial firm, etc) to terminate operations in this manner
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(tr) to convert (assets) into cash
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(tr) to eliminate or kill
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reliquidateverb
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preliquidateverb (used with object)
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nonliquidatingadjective
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unliquidatedadjective
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unliquidatingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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liquidatesimple
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liquidatessimple
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have liquidatedperfect
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has liquidatedperfect
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am liquidatingprogressive
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are liquidatingprogressive
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is liquidatingprogressive
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have been liquidatingperfect progressive
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has been liquidatingperfect progressive
Past
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liquidatedsimple
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had liquidatedperfect
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was liquidatingprogressive
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were liquidatingprogressive
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had been liquidatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of liquidate
1565–75; 1920–25 liquidate for def. 4; < Late Latin liquidātus, past participle of liquidāre to melt, make clear. See liquid, -ate 1
Explanation
If you liquidate something, you get rid of it. When a huge retailer has to close all of its stores, it liquidates everything, meaning the inventory and even the shelves and display cases are sold to bargain-hunters, to raise money for the company to pay its debts. Liquidate comes from the Latin liquidare, meaning “to melt,” or “to clarify.” A recipe might ask you to liquefy the butter, not liquidate it, because liquidate has to do with assets. To liquidate is to convert stocks or goods into cash by selling them, to finish business neatly, and to clear debts. If you liquidate your old baseball card collection, you will have money to put in your college fund.
Vocabulary lists containing liquidate
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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:
Turkey’s financial regulatory agency froze trading by seven asset managers and announced plans to liquidate 131 individual investment funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The government initially took control of SSUK, previously part of Liberty Steel, last year after it was forced to liquidate by the High Court.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
For example, if taxes effectively cost you $20,000, you’d need to liquidate $120,000, which at 7% could have grown to roughly $464,000 over the next two decades.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
That’s fair because those investors can liquidate those holdings if they choose to, or have to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
“It's from that summer house he had. The one his father gave him that we never went to. He has to liquidate it and I’m getting the money!”
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
If Spirit liquidates, other airlines, including Frontier, JetBlue, and United, are expected to backfill its markets and acquire assets.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
If the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 80%, Ledn automatically liquidates the bitcoin to pay off the loans, giving any leftover proceeds back to the borrower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
If the company liquidates, all shareholders — including those who bought in at very high prices — would be paid about $10 a share.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2022
Rah8 liquidates to a winning endgame in which the outside passed a-pawn will spell Black’s doom.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
By commercial paper is meant the credit instruments or documents which the credit system now in general use throughout the commercial world regularly brings into existence and liquidates.
From Banking by William A. Scott
The 42-year-old was charged with fraud after authorities liquidated his private bank Banco Master, which left debts worth over $7 billion in its trail.
From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026
According to Bitfinex analysts, around $3 billion of short positions were liquidated over two days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
The state of Delaware wrongly seized and liquidated his stock after the man didn’t log into his trading account for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It was positioning in South Korea’s equity market that the most dramatic adjustments took place as its benchmark index reversed into bear-market territory with long positions liquidated and new shorts initiated.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Eventually, UBS liquidated all of his assets and transferred them to Landsbanki in Reykjavik.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
As we’re only talking about $7,000, liquidating the IRA may well be the simplest practical solution.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
WSJ: It’s been a super eventful year already, with Spirit liquidating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Watch how RealToken went from attracting thousands of global investors to liquidating its $140 million portfolio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
First, how does the family fund long-term care without liquidating the retirement assets that are anchoring the financial plan?
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Although he was convinced at that time of the urgency of liquidating the Conservative regime, the plot horrified him.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
