eliminate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to completely remove something that is not wanted or needed.
to remove, eradicate, or put an end to something, typically a problem, risk, or unwanted element.
Simple“The new safety rules helped to eliminate the risk of accidents in the factory.”
In context“The administration's primary goal was to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies that had been draining the department's budget for years.”
UsageTransitive; always requires a direct object representing the thing being removed.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to defeat a person or team so they cannot continue in a competition.
to exclude a contestant or team from further participation in a competition following a defeat.
Simple“Our team was eliminated in the first round of the tournament.”
In context“Despite a valiant effort in the final minutes, the defending champions were eliminated from the playoffs after a narrow loss.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice ('be eliminated from').
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
to decide that someone or something is not responsible for something after looking at the facts.
to remove from consideration during an investigation or logical process.
Simple“The police were able to eliminate him as a suspect because he was at work.”
In context“By cross-referencing the timestamps, the investigators could eliminate several theories regarding the cause of the system failure.”
UsageCommonly used with 'as' to specify the category being ruled out.
- 04 C1 Advanced
to kill a person or destroy a target, often used in movies or by the military.
to kill a person or neutralize a military target; frequently used as a euphemism in intelligence or combat contexts.
Simple“The secret agent was ordered to eliminate the threat before it reached the city.”
In context“The tactical unit was tasked to eliminate the enemy's communication hub to prevent them from calling for reinforcements.”
Teacher's tipThis is often a cold, clinical euphemism for killing; it is common in action movies and military reports but sounds very harsh in daily life.
Synonyms - 05 C2 Proficiency
to get rid of waste from your body.
to expel or excrete waste products from the system.
Simple“The kidneys help the body eliminate toxins through urine.”
In context“The study measured how quickly the liver could eliminate the drug from the patient's bloodstream.”
Usage eliminating the need · eliminate effect
“By 2015, rubella had been eliminated from North America and South America.”
“After several underwhelming pre-season results, Mainz were also eliminated in the first round of the German Cup by fourth-tier team Lübeck.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.