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liquidate

Pronunciation: /ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt/

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Definition of liquidate

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

liquidate in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of liquidate in the US English dictionary

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