Library / English Dictionary

ELIMINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Eliminate from the body

Example:

Pass a kidney stone

Synonyms:

egest; eliminate; excrete; pass

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "eliminate" is one way to...):

discharge; eject; exhaust; expel; release (eliminate (a substance))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "eliminate"):

perspire; sudate; sweat (excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin)

exudate; exude; ooze; ooze out; transude (release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities)

make; make water; micturate; pass water; pee; pee-pee; piddle; piss; puddle; relieve oneself; spend a penny; take a leak; urinate; wee; wee-wee (eliminate urine)

urinate (pass after the manner of urine)

empty; evacuate; void (excrete or discharge from the body)

ca-ca; crap; defecate; make; shit; stool; take a crap; take a shit (have a bowel movement)

barf; be sick; cast; cat; chuck; disgorge; honk; puke; purge; regorge; regurgitate; retch; sick; spew; spue; throw up; upchuck; vomit; vomit up (eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

elimination (the bodily process of discharging waste matter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Kill in large numbers

Example:

the plague wiped out an entire population

Synonyms:

annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; eradicate; extinguish; wipe out

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "eliminate" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Verb group:

decimate (kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to eliminate the prisoners

Sense 3

Meaning:

Terminate, end, or take out

Example:

eliminate my debts

Synonyms:

do away with; eliminate; extinguish; get rid of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "eliminate" is one way to...):

destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "eliminate"):

except; exclude; leave off; leave out; omit; take out (prevent from being included or considered or accepted)

extinguish; snuff out (put an end to; kill)

cut; prune; rationalise; rationalize (weed out unwanted or unnecessary things)

cut out (delete or remove)

drown (get rid of as if by submerging)

knock out (eliminate)

obliterate (do away with completely, without leaving a trace)

decouple (eliminate airborne shock waves from (an explosive))

decouple (reduce or eliminate the coupling of (one circuit or part to another))

cancel out; wipe out (wipe out the effect of something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

elimination (the murder of a competitor)

elimination (the act of removing or getting rid of something)

eliminator (an agent that eliminates something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Remove (an unknown variable) from two or more equations

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "eliminate" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

elimination (the act of removing an unknown mathematical quantity by combining equations)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Dismiss from consideration or a contest

Example:

This possibility can be eliminated from our consideration

Synonyms:

eliminate; reject; rule out; winnow out

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 6

Meaning:

Remove from a contest or race

Example:

The cyclist has eliminated all the competitors in the race

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "eliminate" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Do away with

Synonyms:

eliminate; obviate; rid of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "eliminate"):

close out; preclude; rule out (make impossible, especially beforehand)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Scientists showed that eliminating the p75NTR gene prevented hydrocephalus in mice genetically engineered to have astrocytes that produce higher levels of TGF-beta.

(Scientists uncover nuclear process in the brain that may affect disease, NIH)

One of the key processes in which human body eliminates toxic chemicals as well as hormones (such as estrogen) is by glucuronidation.

(Aceglatone, NCI Thesaurus)

The rate of disease occurrence, or proportion of disease occurrences in a given population, during a specified time period, statistically modified to eliminate the effect of the various age distributions.

(Age-Adjusted Incidence Rate, NCI Thesaurus)

Canarypox vectors retain the pancytotropism of most poxviruses, but is unable to productively replicate in non-avian species, thus eliminating the safety concerns exist with other vectors.

(Canarypox Vector, NCI Thesaurus)

In the event that graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) develops due to donor lymphocyte infusion, CD34/TK75-transduced donor lymphocytes may be selectively eliminated by administration of the prodrug antiviral agent ganciclovir GCV.

(CD34/TK75 Retroviral Vector-Transduced Donor Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)

Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) eliminates DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by direct ligation.

(Non-Homologous End-Joining Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Along with macrophages, neutrophils are crucial phagocytotic cells of the immune system and also contribute to anti-viral defenses, binding to and eliminating free virus or virus-infected cells.

(Neutrophil Surface Molecule Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The v-erbA oncogene potentiates cell transformation through inhibition of spontaneous differentiation of cells already transformed by the v-erbB gene and eliminates growth requirements of transformed erythroblasts.

(Oncogene ERB A, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A study of the process by which a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body.

(Pharmacokinetic Study, NCI Thesaurus)

The branch of pharmacokinetics that studies the process by which a drug is eliminated by the body.

(Pharmacokinetics: Excretion, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)