liquidate
Americanverb (used with object)
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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)
verb
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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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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:
That’s fair because those investors can liquidate those holdings if they choose to, or have to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Other plans require former workers who take money out to simultaneously liquidate or roll over their entire account balance, which can make it hard to get maximum benefit from the rule of 55.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
If the airline moves to liquidate, other airlines will likely look to backfill capacity, as they have in the past.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
How you react to it: When it comes time to replenish cash, if the downturn isn’t over, Rivera’s plan is to liquidate some of the investments that are set up in the “intermediate” bucket.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 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 Scott, William A.
The bondholders may wind up owning the bankrupt company if it is reorganized, or could get back some of their investment if the company is liquidated, while the stockholders would get nothing.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
Aspiration subsequently filed for bankruptcy and liquidated all of its assets by July.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Typically investors sizing up builders compare price to book value, which measures what a company would be worth if liquidated.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
The 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was the result of losses on its holdings of long-dated securities, which had to be liquidated when the bank experienced large withdrawals by depositors.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
Eventually, UBS liquidated all of his assets and transferred them to Landsbanki in Reykjavik.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
This July, they announced that they will be liquidating the company’s $140 million portfolio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Blue Owl capped redemptions at 5% in both funds, a built-in feature to avoid liquidating corporate loans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 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
Regarding timing: Is there any financial or legal advantage to liquidating the CDs before your father passes, assuming you are permitted to do so, instead of letting them transfer automatically after death?
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 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.
