terminate

American English
This page is about the doublespeak term terminate

Meaning

to fire somebody from their job

For example

  • How many factory workers can we terminate this month?

  • Unfortunately the company has been forced to terminate some valuable staff members.

Note:
Also "termination" and "termination notice", as in "All the termination notices must be sent by Friday."

Variety

This is typically used in American English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Quick Quiz

We were terminated because the company wanted to

a. move us to a new department

b. reward us for our hard work

c. employ fewer people
a) move us to a new department b) reward us for our hard work c) employ fewer people

Contributor: Matt Errey