/ ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt; NAmE / verb
1.
[ v , vn ] to close a business and sell everything it owns in order to pay debts
2.
[ vn ] ( finance ) to sell sth in order to get money :
to liquidate assets
3.
[ vn ] ( finance ) to pay a debt
4.
[ vn ] to destroy or remove sb/sth that causes problems
SYN annihilate :
The government tried to liquidate the rebel movement and failed.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (in the sense set out (accounts) clearly ): from medieval Latin liquidat- made clear, from the verb liquidare , from Latin liquidus, from liquere be liquid. Senses 1 to 3 were influenced by Italian liquidare and French liquider , sense 4 by Russian likvidirovatˈ .