These words refer to getting rid of something or forcibly moving it to a new position. Remove is the most general of these and the most colourless. It ranges in tone from neutral or factual description to suggestions of rejection, disapproval or the use of force: removing the record from its sleeve; removing the sheets from the bed; removing a corrupt administrator from office; ordering the Serjeant-at-Arms to remove the angry man from the courtroom.

Dismiss is less likely to suggest the use of force, but otherwise is richer in connotations than remove . It can mean the routine release or sending away of an inferior by his superior: dismissing the servant after the guests were ushered in; dismissing the class promptly at three o’clock. It can suggest the routine or disapproving termination of employment: dismissing with thanks the special consultant on the complete project; dismissing his secretary because of her incessant lateness. More pertinently here, the word can suggest a swift, abrupt or final rejection.

• She dismissed his proposal with an imperious wave of her hand; We dismissed the whole idea of cycling to the west coast.

Eliminate , at its mildest, pertains to the routine or methodical disposal of something: organs that eliminate wastes from the body; eliminating from the list those books she had already read. More highly charged, the word can suggest determination, if not force: eliminating from the club those members whose dues were in arrears. At its most extreme, the word can suggest ruthless or systematic destruction: a wave of killings as one group of gangsters set about eliminating its rivals; concentration camps built to eliminate those considered to be enemies of the state.

The remaining words are all more specific in pointing to the use of considerable force to remove something, although none suggest destruction like eliminate . Oust and evict emphasize the resistance given by the thing being removed from its previous position. Oust is restricted to those implications of the previous words pertaining to termination of employment or discharge from office: ousted from the party leadership by a no-confidence vote; a revolution fomented to oust the notorious dictator from power. Evict is even more specific in applying exclusively to removing tenants from occupancy; most often, the word suggests the gaining of legal approval to carry out this act: bailiffs who evicted the family by carrying its belongings out to the footpath.

Expel and eject may both suggest a forcible removing from office or occupancy like the previous pair, but they are more general than any of these words except remove . Expel has its own area of special relevance in applying to the punitive dismissing of a student from school for unsatisfactory behaviour: students expelled for cheating. Eject is the most emphatic of this group in stressing the use of force; it pertains most appropriately to a physical or bodily removal: a spent cartridge that had been ejected by the rifle; calling the police to eject the demonstration from the lobby.