liquidate

 
Pronunciation: /ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt/

verb

[with object]
  • 1wind up the affairs of (a business) by ascertaining liabilities and apportioning assets: if the company was liquidated, there would be enough funds released to honour the debts
  • [no object] (of a business) go into liquidation: the company would have the strength to reorganize and not be forced to liquidate
  • convert (assets) into cash: a plan to liquidate £1 billion worth of property over seven years
  • pay off (a debt): the fund was raided for purposes other than liquidating the public debt
  • 2 informal kill (someone), typically by violent means: nationalist rivals and critics were liquidated in bloody purges

Origin:

mid 16th century (in the sense 'set out (accounts) clearly'): from medieval Latin liquidat- 'made clear', from the verb liquidare, from Latin liquidus (see liquid). liquidate (sense 1) was influenced by Italian liquidare and French liquider, liquidate (sense 2) by Russian likvidirovatʹ