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.
[Origin: 1560–70; 1915–20 for def. 4; < L élīminātus turned out of doors (ptp. of élīmināre), equiv. to é-e-+ līmin-, s. of līmen threshold + -ātus-ate1]
e·lim'i·na'tion n., e·lim'i·na'tive, e·lim'i·na·to'ry (-nə-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē) adj., e·lim'i·na'tor n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to wipe out someone or something, especially by using drastic methods such as banishment or execution: eliminated all opposition; eradicate guerrilla activity; liquidating traitors; purged the army of dissidents.
1568, from L. eliminatus, pp. of eliminare "thrust out of doors, expel," from ex limine "off the threshold," from ex "off, out" + limine, abl. of limen "threshold." Used literally at first; sense of "exclude" first attested 1714; sense of "expel waste from the body" is c.1795.
terminate, end, or take out; "Let's eliminate the course on Akkadian hieroglyphics"; "Socialism extinguished these archaic customs"; "eliminate my debts" [syn: extinguish]
kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population"
4.
dismiss from consideration or a contest; "John was ruled out as a possible suspect because he had a strong alibi"; "This possibility can be eliminated from our consideration" [syn: rule out]
5.
eliminate from the body; "Pass a kidney stone" [syn: excrete]
6.
remove from a contest or race; "The cyclist has eliminated all the competitors in the race"
7.
remove (an unknown variable) from two or more equations
E*lim"i*nate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Eliminated; p. pr. & vb. n. Eliminating.] [L. eliminatus, p. p. of eliminare; e out + limen threshold; prob. akin to limes boundary. See Limit.]1. To put out of doors; to expel; to discharge; to release; to set at liberty. Eliminate my spirit, give it range Through provinces of thought yet unexplored. --Young. 2. (Alg.) To cause to disappear from an equation; as, to eliminate an unknown quantity. 3. To set aside as unimportant in a process of inductive inquiry; to leave out of consideration. Eliminate errors that have been gathering and accumulating. --Lowth. 4. To obtain by separating, as from foreign matters; to deduce; as, to eliminate an idea or a conclusion. [Recent, and not well authorized] 5. (Physiol.) To separate; to expel from the system; to excrete; as, the kidneys eliminate urea, the lungs carbonic acid; to eliminate poison from the system.
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