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remove

/ɹɪˈmuv/verb, noun

remove is spelled R-E-M-O-V-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, remove means “To delete” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in remove?

Letters6: R-E-M-O-V-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing51 times per million words; the 1,993rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is remove?

Remove appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce remove?

  • UK /ɹɪˈmuːv/
  • US /ɹɪˈmuv/
  • Australia /ɹɪˈmʉːv/

Remove has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-remove.ogg, En-au-remove.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with remove?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as remove from its last stressed vowel (/uv/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of remove

  • removes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • removing participle, present
  • removed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does remove mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To delete.

  2. 2

    To move from one place to another, especially to take away.

    He removed the marbles from the bag.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo replace a dish within a course.

  4. 4

    To murder.

  5. 5

    To dismiss a batsman.

  6. 6

    To discard, set aside, especially something abstract (a thought, feeling, etc.).

  7. 7

    archaicTo depart, to leave; to move oneself or be moved.

  8. 8

    archaicTo change one's residence or place of business; to move.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of removing something.

  2. 2

    A dish served to replace an earlier one during a meal; a part of a new course.

  3. 3

    UK(at some public schools) A division of the school, especially the form prior to last.

  4. 4

    A step or gradation (as in the phrase “at one remove”).

  5. 5

    Distance in time or space; interval.

  6. 6

    Emotional distance or indifference.

  7. 7

    State of mind allowing for a certain degree of objectivity in evaluating things.

  8. 8

    datedThe transfer of one's home or business to another place; a move.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate remove?

Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of remove: RM, rm, rmv.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Remove in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchenlever, ôter (to take away)
Germanentfernen (to take away), beseitigen (to murder someone), verdrängen (to discard, set aside), umziehen (to change one's residence)
Portugueseremover, tirar, retirar (to take away)
Spanishquitar, remover, toller (to take away)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does remove come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after remove