Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To move from a place or position occupied.
  • intransitive verb To transfer or convey from one place to another.
  • intransitive verb To take off.
  • intransitive verb To take away; withdraw.
  • intransitive verb To do away with; eliminate.
  • intransitive verb To dismiss from an office or position.
  • intransitive verb To change one's place of residence or business; move.
  • intransitive verb To go away; depart.
  • intransitive verb To be removable.
  • noun The act of removing; removal.
  • noun Distance or degree of separation or remoteness.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of removing, or the state of being removed; removal; change of place.
  • noun The distance or space through which anything is removed; interval; stage; step; especially, a step in any scale of gradation or descent.
  • noun In English public schools:
  • noun Promotion from one class or division to another.
  • noun Hence— A class or division.
  • noun A posting-stage; the distance between two resting-places on a road.
  • noun The raising of a siege.
  • noun The act of changing a horse's shoe from one foot to another, or for a new one.
  • noun A dish removed from table to make room for something else; also, a course.
  • To move from a position occupied; cause to change place; transfer from one point to another; put from its place in any manner.
  • To displace from an office, post, or situation.
  • To take or put away in any manner; take away by causing to cease; cause to leave or depart; put an end to; do away with; banish.
  • To make away with; cut off; take away by death: as, to remove a person by poison.
  • In law, to transfer from one court to another.
  • Synonyms To dislodge, transfer.
  • To dismiss, eject, oust.
  • To abate, suppress.
  • To change place in any manner; move from one place to another; change the place of residence: as, to remove from Edinburgh to London.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To move away from the position occupied; to cause to change place; to displace.
  • transitive verb To cause to leave a person or thing; to cause to cease to be; to take away; hence, to banish; to destroy; to put an end to; to kill.
  • transitive verb To dismiss or discharge from office.
  • intransitive verb To change place in any manner, or to make a change in place; to move or go from one residence, position, or place to another.
  • noun The act of removing; a removal.
  • noun The transfer of one's business, or of one's domestic belongings, from one location or dwelling house to another; -- in the United States usually called a move.
  • noun The state of being removed.
  • noun That which is removed, as a dish removed from table to make room for something else.
  • noun The distance or space through which anything is removed; interval; distance; stage; hence, a step or degree in any scale of gradation; specifically, a division in an English public school.
  • noun (Far.) The act of resetting a horse's shoe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To move something from one place to another, especially to take away.
  • verb transitive To murder someone.
  • verb cricket ,(transitive) To dismiss a batsman.
  • verb transitive To discard, set aside (a thought, feeling etc.).
  • verb intransitive To depart, leave.
  • verb intransitive To change one's residence.
  • noun The act of removing something, especially removing a dish at a meal in order to replace it with the next course
  • noun A dish thus replaced, or the replacement
  • noun UK (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last
  • noun A step or gradation (as in the phrase "at one remove")
  • noun Distance in time or space

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English removen, from Old French remouvoir, from Latin removēre : re-, re- + movēre, to move; see move.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English remeven, removen, from Anglo-Norman remuver, removeir, from Old French remouvoir, from Latin removēre, from re- + movēre ("to move")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word remove.

Examples

  • But Garnett's paintings force viewers to contemplate how ugly and destructive its procession can be, and proclaim that physical remove is no excuse for ignoring that reality.

    Sharon L. Butler: Blast Radius Sharon L. Butler 2010

  • Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

    ICE CREAM SUNDAY Melissa 2009

  • But Garnett's paintings force viewers to contemplate how ugly and destructive its procession can be, and proclaim that physical remove is no excuse for ignoring that reality.

    Sharon L. Butler: Blast Radius Sharon L. Butler 2010

  • Though tasting of the fruits of the first remove from the soil, she was not afraid of the soil; she could return to it gleefully and naturally.

    CHAPTER 6 2010

  • Garnett's paintings force viewers to contemplate how ugly and destructive its procession can be, and proclaim that physical remove is no excuse for ignoring that reality.

    Sharon L. Butler: Blast Radius Sharon L. Butler 2010

  • After it simmers one more time, remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

    2009 July « paper fruit 2009

  • Make sure to remove the labels, and as much of the glue as you can — it will melt and require some scrubbing to remove from the crock.

    How to make homemade Dulce de Leche | Baking Bites 2010

  • Me, not so much, but what I think is really cool about what you've described is how it puts all the moral conflict at one remove from the people -- it's the * vampires* (from what you describe) that are trying to figure out how to live morally as everything is collapsing around them.

    intertribal: who's a sexy chick? (damn, gurl!) intertribal 2010

  • After it simmers one more time, remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

    new blog category: vegan living! « paper fruit 2009

  • But Garnett's paintings force viewers to contemplate how ugly and destructive its procession can be, and proclaim that physical remove is no excuse for ignoring that reality.

    Sharon L. Butler: Blast Radius Sharon L. Butler 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Removes: Meat, Game, and Poultry. These are dishes which remove the fish and soup, served upon large dishes, and placed at the top and bottom of the table; great care should be evinced in cooking them, as they are the "pièce de résistance" of the dinner."

    —Alexis Soyer, The Modern Housewife, 1857, quoted in Susan Williams, Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), 236

    May 4, 2010