a|bol´ish|ment

a|bol|ish «uh BOL ihsh», transitive verb.

1. to put an end to; do away with (a law, institution, or custom) completely: »

Many people wish that nations would abolish war. Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865.

SYNONYM(S): annul, stop, suppress.

2. Obsolete. to destroy: »

Thus … shall the Bastille be abolished (Thomas Carlyle).

╂[< French aboliss-, stem of abolir; fusion of Latin abolēre destroy, and abolēscere die out]

–a|bol´ish|a|ble, adjective.

–a|bol´ish|er, noun.

–a|bol´ish|ment, noun.

Synonym Study 1 Abolish, annihilate, extinguish mean to put an end to something. Abolish now usually applies to man-made things other than concrete objects, such as laws or customs, usually long in existence: »

The college students voted to abolish all secret societies.

Annihilate, more general in application, suggests the use of force and retains its literal meaning of reducing to nothing or of destroying completely: »

Three survivors told how the enemy annihilated the regiment.

Extinguish, a rather formal word in this sense, applies to things or ideas that die or are blotted out by overpowering force or circumstances: »

You may extinguish liberty, but not the love of liberty.