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16 results for: abolish
a·bol·ish 
Audio Help [uh-bol-ish] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [uh-bol-ish] Pronunciation Key –verb (used with object)
| to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void: to abolish slavery. |
[Origin: 1425–75; late ME < MF aboliss-, long s. of abolir < L abolére to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perh. by assoc. with L abolitiō abolition]
] —Related forms
a·bol·ish·a·ble, adjective
a·bol·ish·er, noun
a·bol·ish·ment, noun
—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.
—Antonyms establish.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
abolish
To learn more about abolish visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| a·bol·ish
Audio Help (ə-bŏl'ĭsh) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. a·bol·ished, a·bol·ish·ing, a·bol·ish·es
[Middle English abolisshen, from Old French abolir, aboliss-, from Latin abolēre; see al-2 in Indo-European roots.] a·bol'ish·a·ble adj., a·bol'ish·er n., a·bol'ish·ment n. Synonyms: These verbs mean to get rid of: voted to abolish the tax; exterminated the cockroaches in the house; criticism that extinguished my enthusiasm; policies that attempt to extirpate drug abuse; scientists working to eradicate deadly diseases; a magnet that obliterated the data on the floppy disk. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
abolish
1459, 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, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| abolish | |
verb | |
| do away with; "Slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century in America and in Russia" [ant: establish] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
abolish [əˈboliʃ] verb
to put an end to (a custom, law etc)
Example: We must abolish the death penalty.
Example: We must abolish the death penalty.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Main Entry: abol·ish
Function: transitive verb
: to end the observance or effect of : ANNUL
| Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc. |
Abolish
A*bol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing.] [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish.]1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly. 2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [Archaic] And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. --Spenser. His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. --Tennyson. Syn: To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. Usage: These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act of recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
A*bol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing.] [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish.]1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly. 2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [Archaic] And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. --Spenser. His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. --Tennyson. Syn: To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. Usage: These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act of recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Ab"o*li"tion\, n. [L. abolitio, fr. abolere: cf. F. abolition. See Abolish.] The act of abolishing, or the state of being abolished; an annulling; abrogation; utter destruction; as, the abolition of slavery or the slave trade; the abolition of laws, decrees, ordinances, customs, taxes, debts, etc. Note: The application of this word to persons is now unusual or obsolete| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Ab"ro*gate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abrogated; p. pr. & vb. n. Abrogating.] [L. abrogatus, p. p. of abrogare; ab + rogare to ask, require, propose. See Rogation.]1. To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or his successor; to repeal; -- applied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc. Let us see whether the New Testament abrogates what we so frequently see in the Old. --South. Whose laws, like those of the Medes and Persian, they can not alter or abrogate. --Burke. 2. To put an end to; to do away with. --Shak. Syn: To abolish; annul; do away; set aside; revoke; repeal; cancel; annihilate. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
An*nul"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Annulled; p. pr. & vb. n. Annulling.] [F. annuler, LL. annullare, annulare, fr. L. ad to + nullus none, nullum, neut., nothing. See Null, a.]1. To reduce to nothing; to obliterate. Light, the prime work of God, to me's extinct. And all her various objects of delight Annulled. --Milton. 2. To make void or of no effect; to nullify; to abolish; to do away with; -- used appropriately of laws, decrees, edicts, decisions of courts, or other established rules, permanent usages, and the like, which are made void by component authority. Do they mean to annul laws of inestimable value to our liberties? --Burke. Syn: To abolish; abrogate; repeal; cancel; reverse; rescind; revoke; nullify; destroy. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Can"cel\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Canceled or Cancelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Canceling or Cancelling.] [L. cancellare to make like a lattice, to strike or cross out (cf. Fr. canceller, OF. canceler) fr. cancelli lattice, crossbars, dim. of cancer lattice; cf. Gr. ? latticed gate. Cf. Chancel.]1. To inclose or surround, as with a railing, or with latticework. [Obs.] A little obscure place canceled in with iron work is the pillar or stump at which . . . our Savior was scourged. --Evelyn. 2. To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude. [Obs.] "Canceled from heaven." --Milton. 3. To cross and deface, as the lines of a writing, or as a word or figure; to mark out by a cross line; to blot out or obliterate. A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be cancelled; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or cancelli; though the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliterating or defacing it. --Blackstone. 4. To annul or destroy; to revoke or recall. The indentures were canceled. --Thackeray. He was unwilling to cancel the interest created through former secret services, by being refractory on this occasion. --Sir W. Scott. 5. (Print.) To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type. Canceled figures (Print), figures cast with a line across the face., as for use in arithmetics. Syn: To blot out; obliterate; deface; erase; efface; expunge; annul; abolish; revoke; abrogate; repeal; destroy; do away; set aside. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Nul"li*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nullified; p. pr. & vb. n. Nullifying.] [L. nullificare; nullus none + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Null, a., and -fy.] To make void; to render invalid; to deprive of legal force or efficacy. Such correspondence would at once nullify the conditions of the probationary system. --I. Taylor. Syn: To abrogate; revoke; annul; repeal; invalidate; cancel. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Re*peal"\ (r?-p?l"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repealed (-p?ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. Repealing.] [OF. repeler to call back, F. rappeler; pref. re- re- + OF. apeler, F. appeler, to call, L. appellare. See Appeal, and. cf. Repel.]1. To recall; to summon again, as persons. [Obs.] The banished Bolingbroke repeals himself, And with uplifted arms is safe arrived. --Shak. 2. To recall, as a deed, will, law, or statute; to revoke; to rescind or abrogate by authority, as by act of the legislature; as, to repeal a law. 3. To suppress; to repel. [Obs.] Whence Adam soon repealed The doubts that in his heart arose. --Milton. Syn: To abolish; revoke; rescind; recall; annul; abrogate; cancel; reverse. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Abolish
Re*voke"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Revoked;p. pr. & vb. n. Revoking.] [F. r['e]voquer, L. revocare; pref. re- re- + vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice. See Voice, and cf. Revocate.]1. To call or bring back; to recall. [Obs.] The faint sprite he did revoke again, To her frail mansion of morality. --Spenser. 2. Hence, to annul, by recalling or taking back; to repeal; to rescind; to cancel; to reverse, as anything granted by a special act; as,, to revoke a will, a license, a grant, a permission, a law, or the like. --Shak. 3. To hold back; to repress; to restrain. [Obs.] [She] still strove their sudden rages to revoke. --Spenser. 4. To draw back; to withdraw. [Obs.] --Spenser. 5. To call back to mind; to recollect. [Obs.] A man, by revoking and recollecting within himself former passages, will be still apt to inculcate these sad memoris to his conscience. --South. Syn: To abolish; recall; repeal; rescind; countermand; annul; abrogate; cancel; reverse. See Abolish.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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