terminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring to an end; put an end to.
to terminate a contract.
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to occur at or form the conclusion of.
The countess's soliloquy terminates the play.
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to bound or limit spatially; form or be situated at the extremity of.
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to dismiss from a job; fire.
to terminate employees during a recession.
verb (used without object)
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to end, conclude, or cease.
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(of a train, bus, or other public conveyance) to end a scheduled run at a certain place.
This train terminates in New York.
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to come to an end (often followed by at, in, orwith ).
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to issue or result (usually followed byin ).
verb
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to form, be, or put an end (to); conclude
to terminate a pregnancy
their relationship terminated amicably
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(tr) to connect (suitable circuitry) to the end of an electrical transmission line to absorb the energy and avoid reflections
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(intr) maths (of a decimal expansion) to have only a finite number of digits
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slang (tr) to kill (someone)
Other Word Forms
- nonterminative adjective
- nonterminatively adverb
- self-terminating adjective
- self-terminative adjective
- terminative adjective
- terminatively adverb
- terminatory adjective
- unterminated adjective
- unterminating adjective
- unterminative adjective
Etymology
Origin of terminate
1580–90; verbal use of late Middle English terminate (adjective) “limited,” from Latin terminātus, past participle of termināre. See term, -ate 1
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.
Among its accusations, the labor organization also alleged that guild management has “surveilled workers for union activity, terminated union supporters, and engaged in bad faith surface bargaining.”
From Los Angeles Times
These questions also have implications for debates around when it’s ethical to terminate a pregnancy or the life of a person who is seemingly nonresponsive.
From Los Angeles Times
A Binance spokeswoman said the investigators weren’t “suspended or terminated for raising compliance concerns” but instead left “based on individual circumstances.”
“While the revised consideration is clearly not an optimal outcome, it remains more favorable than weekend reports suggesting Honeywell was considering terminating the deal,” said analysts at Jefferies of Johnson Matthey’s situation.
From MarketWatch
Roughly two weeks after that accommodation was granted, Shiber was terminated.
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.
