Crossword clues for abolish
abolish
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly.
-
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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-15c., from Middle French aboliss-, present participle stem of abolir "to abolish" (15c.), from Latin abolere "destroy, cause to die out, retard the growth of," perhaps from ab- "from" (see ab-) + adolere "to grow," from PIE *ol-eye-, causative of root *al- (3) "to grow, nourish" (see old), and perhaps formed as an antonym to adolere. But the Latin word rather could be from a root in common with Greek ollymi, apollymi "destroy." Tucker writes that there has been a confusion of forms in Latin, based on similar roots, one meaning "to grow," the other "to destroy." Application to persons and concrete objects has long been obsolete. Related: Abolished; abolishing.
Wiktionary
vb. 1 To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice. (First attested from around 1350 to 1470.)(R:SOED5: page=6) 2 (context archaic English) To put an end to or destroy, as a physical object; to wipe out. (First attested from around 1350 to 1470.)
WordNet
v. do away with; "Slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century in America and in Russia" [syn: get rid of] [ant: establish]
Usage examples of "abolish".
This is a much neater place than the last, but the people look stupid and apathetic, and I wonder what they think of the men who have abolished the daimiyo and the feudal regime, have raised the eta to citizenship, and are hurrying the empire forward on the tracks of western civilisation!
The result is to vest an unrestrained discretion in Congress to curtail and even abolish the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and to prescribe the manner and forms in which it may be exercised.
Christ entirely abolished the punishment of hell, so that those who are baptized and truly repent, should not be subject to it.
Governor Arthur abolished land grants to emancipists first, and then altogether, but had nonetheless awarded himself a great acreage, without the payment he demanded from everyone else.
The decay of feudalism and of ecclesiastical privilege took the form of a changed and not of an abolished position for peer and priest.
During his reign, the Habeas Corpus Act was passed and feudalism was practically abolished.
It is thought that Peter the Great, who made the year begin in January, would have also abolished the old style if he had not been afraid of offending England, which then kept trade and commerce alive throughout your vast empire.
Sime and Gen alike, who have given their lives to abolish the junct transfer.
Since the days of Rimon Farris, we have added to the roll of martyrs, Sime and Gen alike, who have given their lives to abolish the junct transfer.
I cannot go into the question of what would happen if all forms of professional licensure, including licensure of physicians, were abolished, as I think they ought to be.
God will make them unholy and idle dayes when he lyste, or of their owne holy dayes abolished make worke dayes agen, or when they changed ye Saterday into Sondaye.
I stand and look after her for a minute, pursuing her with my eyes as I would with my feet and then, realizing that I am very late for therapy and things will be even worse if I do not appear shortly, I break into a clumsy, loping run, heading toward the appropriate room, thoughts of Nala and even the escape momentarily abolished.
However, the intensification of raiding has made it inexpedient to abolish the sirens at this moment.
A cheerful submission was rewarded with honors and riches, but the prudent Artaxerxes suffering no person except himself to assume the title of king, abolished every intermediate power between the throne and the people.
The new National Constituent Assembly, of which her father was a member, abolished the ancient system of feudalism and the collection of seigneurial dues and services, and drafted a Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.