".... and then Judah decides to eliminate his mistress." Is it correct to use "eliminate" for "kill"? [closed]

In a review for the 1989 film "Crimes and Misdemeanors" a critic says: "...and after his mistress has been eliminated, Judah decides..." meaning "has been killed". I always thought of "eliminate" as a verb meaning to remove or defeat.

Eliminate - to remove (something that is not wanted or needed), to defeat and remove (a team, player, etc.) from a competition http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eliminate

Can we use it instead of "kill" as in "Bloody dictators won't hesitate to eliminate their opposers."

Yes, the use of eliminate for kill, or more typically, murder, is well-established.

Several dictionaries record this usage (sometimes, but not always, labelling it as slang):

Collins:

eliminate: ^slang to murder in a cold-blooded manner.

MacMillan:

eliminate: to murder someone who is considered to be a problem.

Cambridge Online:

eliminate: ^slang to murder someone.

Infoplease:

eliminate: to eradicate or kill: to eliminate the enemy.

Wiktionary:

eliminate: ^slang To kill (a person or animal).

Furthemore, several thesauruses list eliminate as a synonym in the kill-constellation of words. For one example, thesaurus.com even has eliminate as a synonym for assassinate.