terminates

verb

present tense third-person singular of terminate
1
as in ends
to bring (an event) to a natural or appropriate stopping point we need to terminate the discussion for this evening, but we'll resume tomorrow morning

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2
as in ceases
to come to an end this class will terminate with the arrival of Memorial Day

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3
as in defines
to mark the limits of terminated the area set aside for the runners to change their clothes with a series of folding screens

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4
as in assassinates
to put to death deliberately the operative's covert mission was to terminate the leader of the opposition

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5
as in removes
to let go from office, service, or employment he was terminated for constantly coming in to work late

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of terminates With the Bridge program scheduled to expire at the end of 2027, a question looms regarding what will happen when the initiative terminates. — Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026 The Waiting Game Is the Smart Game In short, the Raptors are wise to wait to see whether the NBA finds the Clippers at fault and, in doing so, terminates Leonard’s contract or suspends him. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 July 2026 Taking in Wiggins without sending out any salary likely terminates any notion of the Hawks operating as a cap-room team this summer. — John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 June 2026 Over the summer, Hobart comes to life as its beaches and waterways are populated with happy locals and the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race terminates in the harbor. — Riley Wilson, Travel + Leisure, 19 June 2026 That post-mortem right, though, terminates no longer than 70 years after an individual’s passing. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 18 June 2026 That appears to be behaving a bit like an oceanic hot spot, leaving a trail of massive eruptions across the Snake River Plain that terminates at the immense calderas beneath present-day Yellowstone. — ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2026 And Republicans are on the clock, operating under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which terminates military operations after 60 without congressional approval. — Claudia Grisales, NPR, 10 Apr. 2026 Two of the most important alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz are Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which terminates at the Red Sea port of Yanbu, and the United Arab Emirates' ADCOP pipeline, which feeds the export terminal at Fujairah. — Victor Ordonez, ABC News, 30 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terminates
  1. ends
  2. ceases
  3. defines
  4. assassinates
  5. removes
  6. concludes
  7. stops
  8. executes
Verb
  • Amid Pride Park’s sea of black seats, there’s no real sense of where one stand ends and the next starts.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries, or ABIOVE, said the Supreme Court ruling ends years of legal uncertainty and validates voluntary sustainability commitments adopted by traders.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of ends
Verb
  • But speed ceases to be an advantage the moment everyone possesses it.
    — David Farbman, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • As the word ceases to mean a ceasing of fire, new terms have been coined.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
Definition of ceases
Verb
  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines personally identifiable information as data that can distinguish or trace a person’s identity, either alone or when combined with linkable information.
    — Nicole M. Bennett, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Nowhere to be found in this section, or the entire CBA, is the part that defines what a woman is.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of defines
Verb
  • That assassinates Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking retaliatory attacks by Iran across the Middle East.
    — Jill Lawrence, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Soleimani assassination | Trump orders a drone strike in Iraq that assassinates Qasem Soleimani, an influential Iranian military commander.
    — Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 1 Mar. 2026
Definition of assassinates
Verb
  • Critics argue that the shortcut removes the layer of oversight that protects patients from the mistakes that have shaped every prior generation of gene therapy.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The clock stops once the rider removes his hand from the rope or touches anything with his free arm.
    — Ava DiCecca, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of removes
Verb
  • When training concludes with small sided games, losing teams are punished with more running to end the session while the winning team can relax and watch.
    — Andy Jones, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Plus, the event concludes in the evening with a lantern-lighting ceremony in the Japanese Garden pond and Frog Pond.
    — Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of concludes
Verb
  • The study stops well short of identifying the first artists by name.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Here's where autonomy stops being binary and starts being a loop.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of stops
Verb
  • However, whoever executes customer interactions is still representing the face of the company.
    — Guy Yehiav, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Every time the user opens an OWA tab in the browser, the normal OWA sync process automatically executes OWAReaper.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2026
Definition of executes

Browse Nearby Words

terminated
terminates
terminating
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Cite this Entry

“Terminates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terminates. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of terminates for Spanish Speakers

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