liquidate

/ˌlɪkwəˈdeɪt/

/ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt/

Other forms: liquidated; liquidating; liquidates

If you liquidate something, you get rid of it. When a huge retailer has to close all of its stores, it liquidates everything, meaning the inventory and even the shelves and display cases are sold to bargain-hunters, to raise money for the company to pay its debts.

Liquidate comes from the Latin liquidare, meaning “to melt,” or “to clarify.” A recipe might ask you to liquefy the butter, not liquidate it, because liquidate has to do with assets. To liquidate is to convert stocks or goods into cash by selling them, to finish business neatly, and to clear debts. If you liquidate your old baseball card collection, you will have money to put in your college fund.

Definitions of liquidate

1. verb

   eliminate by paying off (debts)
   synonyms: pay off

   types:

   lift

   pay off (a mortgage)

   amortise, amortize

   pay off a debt by making periodic payments

   type of:

   ante up, pay, pay up

   cancel or discharge a debt
2. verb

   settle the affairs of by determining the debts and applying the assets to pay them off
   “liquidate a company”

   type of:

   settle

   dispose of; make a financial settlement
3. verb

   convert into cash
   “I had to liquidate my holdings to pay off my ex-husband”

   type of:

   cash, cash in

   exchange for cash
4. verb

   get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing
   “The mafia liquidated the informer”

   synonyms: do in, knock off, neutralise, neutralize, waste

   type of:

   kill

   cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly