terminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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terminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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terminated,
past participle, past
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terminating
present participle
-
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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terminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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terminated,
past participle, past
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terminating
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
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nonterminativeadjective
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self-terminatingadjective
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self-terminativeadjective
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terminativeadjective
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terminatoryadjective
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unterminatedadjective
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unterminatingadjective
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unterminativeadjective
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nonterminativelyadverb
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terminativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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terminatesimple
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terminatessimple
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have terminatedperfect
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has terminatedperfect
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am terminatingprogressive
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are terminatingprogressive
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is terminatingprogressive
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have been terminatingperfect progressive
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has been terminatingperfect progressive
Past
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terminatedsimple
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had terminatedperfect
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was terminatingprogressive
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were terminatingprogressive
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had been terminatingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
To terminate something is to bring it to an end. Period. Full stop. In ancient Rome, Terminus was the God of landmarks, boundaries, and endings. That’s why his annual party took place at the end of the year. You can imagine the guests walking around in their togas, going, “This party is so great, I wish it would never terminate.” Nowadays, terminate can be used to refer to bringing anything to an end — including one's job or a product line: "When the Weird Food Company announces plans to terminate production of its deep-fried chocolate-covered pickle line, it will be a sad day for lovers of strange snacks."
Vocabulary lists containing terminate
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
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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:
"We have not and do not terminate any of our employees for raising concerns," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
An NHS spokesperson also said it provided "mental health support for baby loss following a decision to terminate a pregnancy".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“We do not terminate employees for raising concerns,” the memo said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The agreement says the EPA “will not terminate, indefinitely suspend, or disallow costs for a covered grant.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“One minute ago I was speaking on the telephone to a colleague in Droitwich. Abruptly, I was obliged to apologize, and terminate the conversation. Now. Who can guess the reason?”
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Pyburn, who also went undrafted after playing three years at Florida and his senior year at LSU, can regain his college eligibility if he terminates his contract with the Bucs and repays earnings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It terminates when he turns 80 — or at least the cost increases astronomically at that point; I can’t remember which.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
A potential tenant terminates an agreement to advance up to $150 million for construction costs at Fermi’s Project Matador.
From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025
Meta also has provided what is called a residual-value guarantee to cover bondholders for the full amount owed if Meta doesn’t renew its lease or terminates early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
The route terminates at the city’s southeast border, close to Richard’s house.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
In a letter to the board, recently terminated employees ask the industry not to move forward with work that would degrade the ability to monitor AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“They literally just said, ‘I can’t do this,’” she said, adding that the person terminated the contract.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
His contract was terminated two months after he first raised concerns, but Soho House said this was unrelated to his complaints.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
While ProPublica was reporting this story, Damen terminated its agreement with Dans, which would have paid him if the company got a contract to build an icebreaker.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
The children’s school, the only one in the area for Negroes, terminated with the sixth grade.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
In certain ciliates, stop codons have evolved to specify amino acids instead of terminating protein production.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Fully insured, state-regulated plans require insurers to give you written notice before terminating coverage — usually 30 or 60 days.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026
By terminating that status, “we are losing a huge, essential part of our workforce,” said Lindsay Ray, executive director of Amigos Center, which provides immigration legal services in Fort Myers, Fla.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
A spokeswoman for Cornyn was quoted by US media as saying he had reached an agreement with the Department of Justice over "permanently terminating" the anti-weaponization fund and clarifying the scope of the audit settlement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
After terminating the call, Venkat opened his laptop to get back to work.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
