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Eliminate: Definition, Common Uses & Synonyms (3 meaning)
Meaning 1：knock out (eliminate)
eliminate
/ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt/
vt.
To remove someone from a competition because they did not win or perform well enough.
knock out
➕
/nɑk aʊt/
vt.
To remove a participant or team from a contest because they did not win a match or round.
📘 Details & Usage
📖 Root Explanation
From Latin 'eliminare' (to turn out of doors), from 'e-' (out) + 'limen' (threshold). Literally 'to throw over the threshold'.
💡 Mnemonic
Imagine saying 'Ee! Liminate!' as you remove all the 'lima' beans from your plate—getting rid of them completely.
📖 Example
Our team played hard, but we were eliminated in the first round of the basketball tournament.
Our team played hard, but we were knocked out in the first round of the basketball tournament.
🔗 Collocations
eliminate from competition – to be removed from a contest
be eliminated early – to be knocked out in the initial stages
eliminate a contender – to remove a competitor
🔄 Synonyms
knock out (phrasal v.) – To defeat and thereby remove from a competition.
oust (vt.) – To force someone out of a position or competition.
disqualify (vt.) – To officially remove for breaking rules.
🚫 Antonyms
🌱 Derivatives
elimination (n.) – The act of eliminating or the state of being eliminated.
📖 Cultural Story
Derived from Latin, the word originally meant to physically expel someone. Its meaning broadened in English to signify removal in competitive, procedural, and destructive contexts, reflecting a shift from a spatial to an abstract action.
Meaning 2：cut out (eliminate)
eliminate
/ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt/
vt.
To completely remove or get rid of something unwanted or harmful.
cut out
➕
/kʌt aʊt/
vt.
To completely remove or stop using something undesirable or unnecessary.
📘 Details & Usage
📖 Example
To improve my health, I decided to eliminate added sugar from my diet.
To improve my health, I decided to cut out added sugar from my diet.
🔗 Collocations
eliminate from diet – to remove a specific food or ingredient from what one eats
completely eliminate – to get rid of something entirely
eliminate a habit – to stop doing a particular routine behavior
🔄 Synonyms
Meaning 3：wipe out (eliminate)
eliminate
/ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt/
vt.
To kill or destroy something completely, especially a group of living things like pests or germs.
wipe out
➕
/waɪp aʊt/
vt.
To destroy or kill something completely, especially a group of pests, diseases, or threats.
📘 Details & Usage
📖 Example
Public health workers are making great efforts to eliminate mosquitoes in this area to prevent disease.
Public health workers are making great efforts to wipe out mosquitoes in this area to prevent disease.
🔗 Collocations
eliminate pests – to completely destroy harmful insects or animals
eliminate the threat – to remove a danger completely
eliminate a disease – to eradicate an illness completely
🔄 Synonyms
exterminate (vt.) – To kill all of a particular group of living things.
annihilate (vt.) – To destroy something completely.
eradicate (vt.) – To destroy or get rid of something completely.
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