abolish

Meanings

1. To end a law, a custom or a system officially.
2. To get rid of something completely.

Example sentences

• "The government decided to abolish the old tax."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

• "Slavery was abolished in many countries in the nineteenth century."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

• "Some people want to abolish homework altogether."

  Level B2, Meaning 2

• "The school abolished the rule last year."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• cancel : Cancel stops one event or one booking, such as a meeting. Abolish ends a whole law or system for good.

Word family and forms

Forms: abolishes, abolished, abolishing

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "abolish".

• abolish a law
• abolish slavery
• abolish a tax
• abolish the death penalty
• be abolished
• abolish the system

Origin

Abolish came into English through Middle French from Latin abolere, which meant to destroy or to stop the growth of something. Another Latin form of the same verb meant to wither and fade away.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

"Abolish" is almost always used for formal, official things such as laws, systems and institutions, not personal habits.

How to remember it

Abolish ends like finish, vanish and punish. If a law is abolished, it is finished and gone.

Test yourself

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