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.
“You’d like to terminate a pregnancy?” the person on the other end of the line confirmed.
From Los Angeles Times
After all, they still are disputing with the owners over whether or not the fire effectively terminated their leases.
From Los Angeles Times
Shah wrote that while he may not have jurisdiction to block a simple grant termination, he did have jurisdiction to halt an administration directive to terminate funding based on unconstitutional grounds.
From Los Angeles Times
So, when the recommendation from Venkatesham to terminate Frank's employment arrived in the hours after the loss to Newcastle it was accepted immediately by the ownership board, who formally approved the decision.
From BBC
Department of Veterans Affairs has terminated agreements allowing three outside entities including a prestigious K-12 academy to use portions of its West Los Angeles campus.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
