eliminate

UK: /ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt/ US: /ɪˈlɪməˌneɪt/ ,(i lim′ə nāt′)

Inflections of 'eliminate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

eliminates

v 3rd person singular

eliminating

v pres p

eliminated

v past

eliminated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

e•lim•i•nate /ɪˈlɪməˌneɪt/   v. [~ + object] , -nat•ed, -nat•ing. 

1. to get rid of; remove:
   to eliminate poverty.
2. to omit;
   leave out:
   help eliminate errors.
3. to defeat in a contest:
   Our team was eliminated early in the tournament.

e•lim•i•na•tion /ɪˌlɪməˈneɪʃən/  n. [uncountable] See -lim-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

e•lim•i•nate  (i lim′ə nāt′), v.t., -nat•ed, -nat•ing. 

1. to remove or get rid of, esp. as being in some way undesirable:
   to eliminate risks; to eliminate hunger.
2. to omit, esp. as being unimportant or irrelevant; leave out:
   I have eliminated all statistical tables, which are of interest only to the specialist.
3. to remove from further consideration or competition, esp. by defeating in a contest.
4. to eradicate or kill:
   to eliminate the enemy.
5. Physiology to void or expel from an organism.
6. Mathematics to remove (a quantity) from an equation by elimination.

• Latin ēlīminātus turned out of doors (past participle of ēlīmināre), equivalent. to ē- e- + līmin-, stem of līmen threshold + -ātus -ate¹
• 1560–70; 1915–20 for def. 4;

e•lim•i•na•bil•i•ty  (i lim′ə nə bil′i tē), n.  e•lim′i•na′tive, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1, 2. reject.

Antonyms

• 2. include.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

eliminate / ɪˈlɪmɪˌneɪt/ verb (transitive)

1. to remove or take out; get rid of
2. to reject as trivial or irrelevant; omit from consideration
3. to remove (a competitor, team, etc) from a contest, usually by defeat
4. to murder in a cold-blooded manner
5. to expel (waste matter) from the body
6. to remove (an unknown variable) from two or more simultaneous equations

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin ēlīmināre to turn out of the house, from e- out + līmen threshold

eˈliminable adjective

eˈliminative, eˈliminatory adjective

eˈlimiˌnator noun