noun
liquidation
The deliberate destruction or elimination of someone or something.
The dictator orders the liquidation of his political opponents.
Etymology
Liquidation ordinarily concerns settling accounts or winding up an enterprise. The destructive sense extends that ending or removal to deliberate elimination of people or things.
More examples
- The rebels fear liquidation if they surrender.
- The campaign aims at the liquidation of all armed resistance.
- The report documents the systematic liquidation of entire villages.
Forms
liquidation · liquidations
liquidate verb — Deliberately destroy or eliminate someone or something.
Similar words
- elimination
- Broader removal that does not necessarily involve killing or destruction.
- extermination
- Emphasizes killing every member of a group or population.
- assassination
- Specifically the targeted killing of a prominent person.