remove

UK/ɹɪˈmuːv//ɹɪˈmuv/

remove verb: to delete.

Verb

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

(transitive) To delete.
(transitive) To move from one place to another, especially to take away.
- He removed the marbles from the bag.
- Thou ſhalt not remoue thy neghbours marke which they of olde tyme haue ſett in thyne enheritaunce that thou enheretteſt in the londe which the Lorde thy God geueth the to enioye it.1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., [The Pentateuch] (Tyndale Bible), Malborow [Marburg], Hesse: […] Hans Luft [actually Antwerp: Johan Hoochstraten], →OCLC...
1. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To replace a dish within a course.
  - 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.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
(transitive) To murder.
(transitive) To dismiss a batsman.
(transitive) To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.).
- 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.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 524
- 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.2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10
(archaic, intransitive) To depart, to leave; to move oneself or be moved.
- 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 peple1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “vj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V
- […] you shall set your stakes at the brim of the water, each a yard apart, and so yedder them with your yedders, and so stake them with your strut stowers, that they may stand three tides without removing by the force thereof.1855, Francis Kildale Robinson, A Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases: Collected in Whitby and the Neighbourhood. With Examples of Their Colloquial Use, and Allusions to Local Customs and...
(archaic, intransitive) To change one's residence or place of business; to move.
- Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- 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.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC
To dismiss or discharge from office.
- The President removed many postmasters.

Noun

remove (plural removes)

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.[1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London]: […] [Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], →OCLC
- And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC
(historical) A dish served to replace an earlier one during a meal; a part of a new course.
- A supper brings up the rear, not forgetting the introductory luncheon, almost equalling in removes the dinner.1796, Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Oxford, published 2009, page 16
- An attempt at entrées and removes failed at the first dinner-party.1842, [Katherine] Thomson, chapter XIII, in Widows and Widowers. A Romance of Real Life., volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 289
(UK) (at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last.
A step or gradation (as in the phrase “at one remove”).
- A freeholder is but one remove from a legislator.1716 January 2 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 1. Thursday, December 23. 1715.”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […]...
- That vve may underſtand the full extent of theſe relations, vve must conſider, that tvvo objects are connected together in the imagination, not only vvhen the one is immediately reſembling, contiguous to, or the cauſe of the other, but alſo vvhen there is interpoſed betwixt them a third object...1739, [David Hume], “Of the Connexion or Association of Ideas”, in A Treatise of Human Nature: […], book I (Of the Understanding), London: […] John Noon, […], →OCLC, part I (Of Ideas; Their Origin...
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...1654, Richard Whitlock, Zootomia; Or, Observations on the Present Manners of the English
(broadly, figuratively) Emotional distance or indifference.
(broadly, figuratively) State of mind allowing for a certain degree of objectivity in evaluating things.
- 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.2021 October 19, David Graeber, David Wengrowr, “Unfreezing the ice age: the truth about humanity’s deep past”, in The Guardian, UK
(dated) The transfer of one's home or business to another place; a move.
- It is an English proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire.1855, John Henry Newman, Callista
The act of resetting a horse's shoe.
- His horse wanted two removes; your horse wanted nails1731 (date written; published 1745), [Jonathan] Swift, Directions to Servants […], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], and M. Cooper, […], →OCLC

remove meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

remove in Hindi

to take away: हटाना haṭānā, अलग करना alag karnā

remove in Tamil

நீக்கு, எடுத்துவிடு, அகற்று, கழற்று, போக்கு

remove in Urdu

to remove, take out: نکالنا nikālnā
to remove: ہٹانا haṭānā
to remove, take off: اتارنا utārnā

More languagesFewer languages

remove in Bengali: সরানো śoranō, মাইনাস mainaś, কাটা kaṭa, দমা doma
remove in Telugu: తీయు tīyu, తొలగించు tolagiñcu
remove in Malayalam: മാറ്റുക māṟṟuka
remove in Kannada: ಹೊಡೆ hoḍe
remove in Punjabi: ਕੱਢਣਾ kaḍḍhaṇā, کڈھنا kaḍḍhṇā
remove in Gujarati: કાપવું kāpvũ, નીકળવું nīkaḷvũ
remove in Odia: ନେବା nebā, ସାରିବା sāribā, ଖଣ୍ଡିବା khaṇḍibā, ଉଠାଇବା uṭhāibā
remove in Sanskrit: जिहर्ति jiharti, हरति harati
remove in Assamese: গুচোৱা gusüa, এৰোৱা erüa, উঠোৱা uthüa
remove in Nepali: निकाल्नु nikālnu
remove in Tagalog: alisin, tanggalin
remove in Arabic: نَقَلَ naqala, أَزَالَ ʔazāla, أَخْرَجَ ʔaḵraja, جَذَبَ jaḏaba
remove in Persian: برداشتن bardâštan
remove in Thai: ลบ lóp, ถอด tɔ̀ɔt
remove in Vietnamese: chuyển đi, dọn đi

Examples of remove in a sentence

His first indication of coming events was to remove the key from the outside to the inside of the door.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:
Shortly after this, my father removed, and settled in the same county, about ten miles above Greenville.1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska, published 1987, page 20:
I am going to remove. / Where are you going to remove to? / I don't know yet. / When will you know?1886, Lim Hiong Seng, Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular, Singapore: Koh Yew Hean Press:

All 40 example sentences with remove

Synonyms of remove

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of remove

Forms of remove

Verb
third-person singular present	removes
present participle	removing
past participle	removed
past	removed
second-person singular present (archaic)	removest
second-person singular past (archaic)	removedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	removeth
Noun
plural	removes

Past tense of remove: removed

Plural of remove: removes

Origin of remove

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.

Words formed from remove

Words that rhyme with remove

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about remove

What does remove mean?: Remove means to delete.
What is remove in Hindi?: Remove in Hindi is हटाना (haṭānā), अलग करना (alag karnā). See Remove meaning in Hindi.
How do you use remove in a sentence?: His first indication of coming events was to remove the key from the outside to the inside of the door.
What part of speech is remove?: Remove can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce remove?: Remove is pronounced /ɹɪˈmuːv/ (UK).
What is the past tense of remove?: The past tense of remove is removed.

Words near remove in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-remove.ogg, en-au-remove.ogg.

Cite this entry: “remove.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/remove. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.