A person, device, or substance that removes or gets rid of something unwanted. Something that causes elimination or exclusion.
From Latin 'eliminare' meaning 'to turn out of doors, banish,' formed from 'e-' meaning 'out' and 'limen' meaning 'threshold.' The '-ator' suffix indicates an agent or device that performs the action. The word entered English in the 17th century.
The word 'eliminate' literally means 'to put outside the threshold' - imagine physically removing someone from your house by pushing them past the doorway. This vivid spatial metaphor explains why elimination feels so definitive and final, whether we're talking about contestants or contaminants.
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