abolish (abolish)

t. [ Or wilt thou thyself Abolish thy creation, and unmake, For him, what for thy glory thou hast made? Congre can, by edict, Milton, P. L., iii. 163. abolish slavery, and pay Emerson, Misc., p. 285. for such slaves as we ought to pay for. His quick, instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. Tennyson, Geraint. =Syn. To Abolish, Repeal, Rescind, Recall, Revoke, Abro nullify, annihilate, quash, vacate, make void,' extirpate, Annul , Cancel , end, destroy, do with, set eradicate, suppre , uproot, erase, expunge. Abolish is a strong word, and signifies a complete removal, generally but not always by a summary act. It is the word specially used in connection with things that have been long established or deeply rooted, as an institution or a custom: as, to abolish slavery or polygamy. Repeal is generally used of the formal rescinding of a legislative act. Abrogate, to abolish summarily, more often as the act of a ruler, but sometimes of a representative body. Annul, literally to bring to nothing, to deprive of all force or obligation, as a law or contract. Rescind (literally, to cut short) is lensive innteaning with both repeat and annul. Recall, revoke (see renounce). Cancel is not used of laws, but of deeds, bonds, contracts, etc., and figuratively of whatever may be thought of as cro ed out. [In legal parlance, rescind is never applied to a statute; it is the common expre ion for the act of a party in justly repudiating a contract. Repeal is never applied to a contract; it is the common expre ion for the termination of the existence of a statute by a later statute. Annul is the common expre ion for the judicial act of a court in terminating the existence of any obligation or conveyance. Cancel is used when the instrument is obliterated actually or in legal contemplation; the other words when the obligation is annihilated irrespective of whether the instrument is left intact or not.] I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congre to abolish slavery in this District [of Columbia]. Lincoln, in Raymond, p. 184. Leaving out amended acts and enumerating only acts entirely repealed, the result is that in the last three se ions there have been repealed 650 acts belonging to the present reign. H. Spencer, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXV. 6. IMG:content-0067.png:[subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] And yet abolishable. hope is but deferred; not abolished, not Carlyle, French Rev., I. ii. 8.