termination
Americannoun
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terminations
plural
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the act of terminating
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the fact of being terminated.
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the place or part where anything terminates; bound or limit.
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an end or extremity; close or conclusion.
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an issue or result.
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Grammar. a suffix or ending.
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an ending of employment with a specific employer.
noun
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the act of terminating or the state of being terminated
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something that terminates
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a final result
Usage
What does termination mean? Termination is the act of bringing something to an end or the physical end of something. Termination is the noun form of the verb terminate, meaning to bring an end to. It also means to fire someone from a job, and termination is perhaps most commonly used as a way to refer to this process or its result, as in His employment with the company ended in termination. Example: The termination of the program last year hurt the many people who relied on its benefits.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of termination
1400–50; late Middle English terminacion < Latin terminātiōn- (stem of terminātiō ) decision. See terminate, -ion
Explanation
Whether it refers to getting fired from a job, a contract running out, or the assassination of a deep-cover spy, termination is "the end of the line." You may be familiar with a certain time-traveling cyborg assassin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His character was a "terminator," in a movie of the same name, and his goal was the termination of Sarah Connor. Lucky for Sarah, and the supposed future of our planet, the termination was unsuccessful. In the real world, you're more likely to see the word termination used when a contract, program, or job comes to an end, unexpectedly or as planned.
Vocabulary lists containing termination
"The Cask of Amontillado"
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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Lincoln Inaugural Address (March 1861)
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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:
Over seven pages, the Board of Education provided its justifications for Carvalho’s termination, citing allegedly unreported gifts, unreported outside income and donor-funded travel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Toczylowski said termination of a program that serves one of the most vulnerable immigrant populations should be viewed as an attack on children and Americans should be alarmed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Despite these confessions, department spokesman Ben Dietderich told me that “none of the termination decisions were based on political considerations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Chinese company on Wednesday said it received formal notice from Nike about the sales termination and expects the move to pose a significant hit to its business in the short term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
She also asked the Florida Department of Children and Families’ lawyers to begin termination proceedings for Dusty Grover’s rights to Luke and my mother’s rights to me.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
“Pretextual terminations that tarnish careers of honest employees is never permissible,” he said in a statement, adding that he is looking forward to defending against the bank’s suit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The merit board alone reported 20,335 pending appeals that year, four times its usual load, filed by workers swept out in the mass terminations, and with Harris gone it could decide none of them.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
The terminations took effect in the fall, with those who had work authorizations until October 2026 permitted to keep them.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2026
Rirdeshare Drivers United said drivers are often terminated for vague reasons and are met with endless automated chatbots when inquiring about their terminations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
The "–cene" terminations were thus something of a compromise.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
