eliminate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To completely remove or get rid of something.

   The new filter eliminates dust and odours from the air.

2. 2
   verb

   To remove someone from a competition by defeating them.

   Our team was eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

3. 3
   verb

   To rule someone out from a list of possibilities, such as suspects.

   The police eliminated him as a suspect after checking his alibi.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Eliminate comes from Latin eliminare “to turn or thrust out of doors,” based on limen “threshold.” Its early English sense was “drive out” or “expel”; the stronger sense “kill” or “murder” appeared in the mid-18th century.

Borrowed from Latin ēlīminātus, perfect passive participle of ēlīminō (“to turn out of doors, banish”), from ē- + līmen (“a threshold”, līmin- in compounds) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), akin to Latin līmes (“a boundary”); see also English limit and limen.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary