abolish
Use Abolish in a sentence
ɪʃ verb (used with object)
to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void: to abolish slavery.
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir < Latin abolēre to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perhaps by association with Latin abolitiō abolition
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir < Latin abolēre to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perhaps by association with Latin abolitiō abolition
Related forms
a·bol·ish·a·ble, adjective
a·bol·ish·er, noun
a·bol·ish·ment, noun
un·a·bol·ish·a·ble, adjective
un·a·bol·ished, adjective
Synonyms
suppress, nullify, cancel; annihilate, obliterate, extinguish; exterminate, extirpate, eliminate. Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots ), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
suppress, nullify, cancel; annihilate, obliterate, extinguish; exterminate, extirpate, eliminate. Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots ), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
Antonyms
establish.
establish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To abolish
00:10
Abolish
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
abolish (əˈbɒlɪʃ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| (tr) to do away with (laws, regulations, customs, etc); put an end to | |
| [C15: from Old French aboliss- (lengthened stem of abolir), ultimately from Latin abolēre to destroy] | |
| a'bolishable | |
| —adj | |
| a'bolisher | |
| —n | |
| a'bolishment | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
abolish
mid-15c., from M.Fr. aboliss-, prp. stem of abolir "to abolish," from L. abolescere "to die out, decay little by little," inceptive of L. abolere "to retard the growth of," from ab- "from" + adolere "to grow," from PIE *ol-eye-, causative of base *al- "to grow, nourish" (see
old). Tucker writes that there has been a confusion of forms in L., based on similar roots, one meaning "to grow," the other "to destroy." Application to persons and concrete objects has long been obsolete.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
We have to become master of the symptoms, and abolish them, which is of course exactly what the patient asks us to do.
We'll abolish the notion of private property, we'll abolish money.
This program is now dormant pending a decision to continue or to abolish it.
Polls show that a third of the country wants to keep the monarchy, a third wants to abolish it and the remainder don't care much.
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