What does "remove" mean?
The act of removing something.
Remove
/ɹɪˈmuːv/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of removing something.
- Grammar: remove is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: take, take away, take off, withdraw.
- Useful contrasts: appointed official system, banded, careless shove.
- Usage evidence: Please remove your shoes before entering the house.
How to use "remove"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "remove" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "remove" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "remove" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "remove" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "remove" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "take" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "remove", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of removing something.
"This place should be at once both school and university, not needing a remove to any other house of scholarship."
- 2 degree of figurative distance or separation wordnet
- 3 A dish served to replace an earlier one during a meal; a part of a new course. historical
"A supper brings up the rear, not forgetting the introductory luncheon, almost equalling in removes the dinner."
- 4 (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last British
- 5 A step or gradation (as in the phrase "at one remove")
"A freeholder is but one remove from a legislator."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Distance in time or space; interval.
"How many Masters have some stately Houses had, in the age of a small Cottage, that hath, as it were, lived, and dyed with her old Master, both dropping down together. Such vain Preservatories of us, are our Inheritances, even once removed: but look on it more Removes off, and continuing in thy Name, yet how little doth that concerne Thee (though the first Purchaser, or his Heire) Lazy Posterity, when they heare it so called know it by the Name, but not as thine; […]"
- 7 Emotional distance or indifference. broadly, figuratively
- 8 State of mind allowing for a certain degree of objectivity in evaluating things. broadly, figuratively
"The fact that one structure applied in the rainy season and another in the dry allowed Nambikwara chiefs to view their own social arrangements at one remove: to see them as not simply “given”, in the natural order of things, but as something at least partially open to human intervention."
- 9 The transfer of one's home or business to another place; a move. dated
"It is an English proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire."
- 10 The act of resetting a horse's shoe.
"His horse wanted two removes; your horse wanted nails"
Verb
- 1 To delete. transitive
- 2 remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract wordnet
- 3 To move from one place to another, especially to take away. transitive
"He removed the marbles from the bag."
- 4 stay away or leave wordnet
- 5 To move from one place to another, especially to take away.; To replace a dish within a course. formal, obsolete, transitive
"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."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 get rid of something abstract wordnet
- 7 To murder. transitive
- 8 shift the position or location of, as for business, legal, educational, or military purposes wordnet
- 9 To dismiss a batsman. transitive
- 10 dispose of wordnet
- 11 To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.). transitive
"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."
- 12 remove from a position or an office wordnet
- 13 To depart, to leave; to move oneself or be moved. archaic, intransitive
"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"
- 14 cause to leave wordnet
- 15 To change one's residence or place of business; to move. archaic, intransitive
"Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane."
- 16 kill intentionally and with premeditation wordnet
- 17 To dismiss or discharge from office.
"The President removed many postmasters."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Please remove your shoes before entering the house."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "remove"?
Common synonyms include: take, take away, take off, withdraw, abandon, abate.
How do you use "remove" in a sentence?
Please remove your shoes before entering the house.
How do you pronounce "remove"?
Pronounced /ɹɪˈmuːv/.
Etymology
From Middle English removen, from Anglo-Norman remover, removeir, from Old French remouvoir, from Latin removēre, from re- + movēre (“to move”), equivalent to re- + move. Displaced native Old English āfierran.