remove

English

Etymology

From Middle English removen, from Anglo-Norman remover, removeir, from Old French remouvoir, from Latin removēre, from re- + movēre (“to move”). Displaced native Old English āfierran.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈmuːv/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -uːv

Verb

remove (third-person singular simple present removes, present participle removing, simple past and past participle removed)

1. (transitive) To delete.

   • Delete definition

     To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device. (1 of 3 delete definitions)
2. (transitive) To move something from one place to another, especially to take away.

   He removed the marbles from the bag.

   • 1560, Geneva Bible, The Geneva Bible#page/n182 Deuteronomy 19:14:

     Thou ſhalt not remoue thy neighbours marke, which thei of olde time haue ſet in thine inheritance, that thou ſhalt inherit the lãd, which the Lord thy God giueth the to poſſeſſe it.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

   1. (obsolete, formal) To replace a dish within a course.
      • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

        But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw […] that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

   • Move definition

     To change place or posture; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another. (1 of 17 move definitions)

   • Take Away definition

     To remove something and put it in a different place. (1 of 7 take away definitions)
3. (transitive) To murder.

   • Murder definition

     The crime of deliberately killing a person without moral justification. (1 of 5 murder definitions)
4. (cricket, transitive) To dismiss a batsman.

   • Cricket definition

     (1 of 5 cricket definitions)

   • Dismiss definition

     (1 of 9 dismiss definitions)
5. (transitive) To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book III, canto VIII, page 524:

     Eternall thraldom was to her more liefe, / Then loſſe of chaſtitie, or chaunge of loue : / Dye had ſhe rather in tormenting griefe, / Then any ſhould of falſeneſſe her reproue, / Or looſeneſſe, that ſhe lightly did remoue.

   • 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10:

     The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

   • Discard definition

     To throw away, to reject. (1 of 3 discard definitions)

   • Set Aside definition

     To separate and reserve something for a specific purpose. (1 of 4 set aside definitions)

   • Abstract definition

     An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. (1 of 8 abstract definitions)
6. (intransitive, now rare) To depart, leave.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “vj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V:

     THenne the kynge dyd doo calle syre Gawayne / syre Borce / syr Lyonel and syre Bedewere / and commaunded them to goo strayte to syre Lucius / and saye ye to hym that hastely he remeue oute of my land / And yf he wil not / bydde hym make hym redy to bataylle and not distresse the poure peple

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • Depart definition

     To leave. (1 of 8 depart definitions)

   • Leave definition

     To have a consequence or remnant.

     1. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely. (1 of 15 leave definitions)
7. (intransitive) To change one's residence; to move.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iii]:

     Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane.

   • 1719 April 25​, [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, OCLC 838630407:

     Now my life began to be so easy that I began to say to myself that could I but have been safe from more savages, I cared not if I was never to remove from the place where I lived.

   • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska 1987, p.20:

     Shortly after this, my father removed, and settled in the same county, about ten miles above Greenville.

   • 1886, Lim, Hiong Seng, Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular, Singapore: Koh Yew Hean Press:

     I am going to remove. / Where are you going to remove to? / I don't know yet. / When will you know?

   • Residence definition

     The place where one lives (resides); one's home. (1 of 9 residence definitions)
8. To dismiss or discharge from office.

   The President removed many postmasters.

   • Discharge definition

     To accomplish or complete, as an obligation. (1 of 19 discharge definitions)

   • Office definition

     A ceremonial duty or service, particularly:

     1. The authorized form of ceremonial worship of a church.
     2. Any special liturgy, as the Office for the Dead or of the Virgin.
     3. A daily service without the eucharist.
     4. The daily service of the breviary, the liturgy for each canonical hour, including psalms, collects, and lessons. (1 of 32 office definitions)

Conjugation

Synonyms

• unstay

Antonyms

• (move something from one place to another): settle, place, add

Derived terms

• removable
• removal
• removalist
• remover

Translations

Noun

remove (plural removes)

1. The act of removing something.
   • [1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London: […] Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], OCLC 946735316:

     This place should be at once both school and university, not needing a remove to any other house of scholarship.

   • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765)​, Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], OCLC 1205185272:

     And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.

   • 1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:

     There is no tree admits of transplantation so well as the Elm, for a tree of twenty years growth will admit of a remove.

   • Removing definition

     present participle of remove
2. (cooking, now chiefly historical) A dish served to replace an earlier one during a meal; a part of a new course.
   • 1796, Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Oxford 2009, p. 16:

     A supper brings up the rear, not forgetting the introductory luncheon, almost equalling in removes the dinner.

   • Cooking definition

     The process of preparing food by using heat. (1 of 6 cooking definitions)

   • Dish definition

     A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. (1 of 12 dish definitions)

   • Course definition

     A sequence of events. (1 of 24 course definitions)
3. (Britain) (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last

   • Division definition

     The act or process of dividing anything. (1 of 15 division definitions)

   • School definition

     (1 of 3 school definitions)

   • Form definition

     To do with shape.

     1. The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
     2. A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
     3. Regularity, beauty, or elegance.
     4. The inherent nature of an object; that which the mind itself contributes as the condition of knowing; that in which the essence of a thing consists.
     5. Characteristics not involving atomic components. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
     6. A long bench with no back.
     7. The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.
     8. The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

     (1 of 27 form definitions)
4. A step or gradation (as in the phrase "at one remove")
   • 1716 January 3 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 1. Friday, December 23. 1715.”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, OCLC 1056445272:

     A freeholder is but one remove from a legislator.

   • 1970, Yuri Rytkheu, Сон в начале тумана [A Dream in Polar Fog]:

     Toko returned to the men, sitting at a remove.

   • 2007, James D. McCallister, King's Highway, page 162:

     In his unfortunate absence at this far remove of 2007, Zevon's musicianship and irascible wit are as missed as ever.

   • Step definition

     An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace. (1 of 17 step definitions)

   • Gradation definition

     A sequence of gradual, successive stages; a systematic progression. (1 of 8 gradation definitions)
5. Distance in time or space; interval.

   • Distance definition

     The amount of space between two points, usually geographical points, usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line. (1 of 10 distance definitions)

   • Interval definition

     A distance in space. (1 of 7 interval definitions)
6. (figuratively, by extension) Emotional distance or indifference.
7. (dated) The transfer of one's home or business to another place; a move.
   • 1855, John Henry Newman, Callista

     It is an English proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire.

8. The act of resetting a horse's shoe.
   • 1731 (date written, published 1745)​, Jonathan Swift, “Directions to Servants”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], volume XVI, new edition, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, OCLC 1184656746:

     His horse wanted two removes; your horse wanted nails

   • Horse definition

     A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.

     1. (1 of 23 horse definitions)

   • Shoe definition

     A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of leather or synthetic material. Shoes generally do not extend above the ankle, as opposed to boots, which do. (1 of 16 shoe definitions)

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989

Latin

Verb

removē

1. second-person singular present active imperative of removeō

   • Removeo definition

     i remove, take away

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔvi

Verb

remove

1. third-person singular present indicative of remover

   • Remover definition

     Agent noun of remove; one who, or that which, removes. (1 of 2 remover definitions)
2. second-person singular imperative of remover