A.“-ήσω” Il.11.453, etc.: fut. 2 “καθελῶ” APl.4.334 (Antiphil.): aor.2 καθεῖλον, inf. καθελεῖν: aor. 1 “καθεῖλα” LXX 3 Ki.19.14: Ion. pf. part. Pass. “καταραιρημένος” Hdt.2.172:—take down, “καθείλομεν ἱστία” Od. 9.149; “κὰδ δ᾽ ἀπὸ πασσαλόφι ζυγὸν ᾕρεον” Il.24.268; κ. ἄχθος take it down, i.e. off one's shoulders, Ar.Ra.10; “κ. τὸ σημεῖον” And.1.36; κ. τῶν ἐκ τῆς στοᾶς ὅπλων some of them, X.HG5.4.8; “κ. εἰκόνα ἐξ ἀκροπόλεως” Lycurg.117; κ. τινά, from the cross, Plb.1.86.6, Ph.2.529:—Med., κατελέσθαι τὰ τόξα take down one's bow, Hdt.3.78; “τοὺς ἱστούς” Plb.1.61.1.
2. put down, close the eyes of the dead, “ὄσσε καθαιρήσουσι θανόντι περ” Il.11.453; “ὀφθαλμοὺς καθελοῦσα” Od.24.296; “χερσὶ κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἑλέειν” 11.426.
II. put down by force, destroy, “ὅτε κέν μιν μοῖρ᾽ ὀλοὴ καθέλῃσι” Od.2.100, 19.145, cf. 3.238, etc.; “μὴ καθέλοι μιν αἰών” Pi.O.9.60; “φῶτ᾽ ἄδικον καθαιρεῖ” A.Ag. 398(lyr.); “μοῖρα τὸν φύσαντα καθεῖλε” S.Aj.517, cf. E.El.878(lyr.), etc.; kill, slay, ταῦρον ib.1143, cf. Stesich.23, S.Tr.1063, Fr.205; ἐάν τις ἀποκτείνῃ . . ἐν ὁδῷ καθελών Lexap.D.23.53:—Pass., of criminals, to be executed, Plu.Them.22.
2. put down, reduce, “κ. Κῦρον καὶ τὴν Περσέων δύναμιν” Hdt.1.71, etc.; καθαιρεθῆναι, opp. ἀρθῆναι, D.2.8; esp. depose, dethrone, Hdt.1.124, etc.; κ. τὸ λῃστικὸν ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης remove it utterly from . . , Th.1.4, cf. POxy.1408.23 (iii A.D.); “κ. ὕβριν τινός” Hdt.9.27, LXXZa.9.6; “ὄλβον” S.Fr.646.4; ὑπερηφάνους Aristeas 263:—Pass., καθῃρημένος τὴν αἴσθησιν bereft of sense, Plu.Per.38; καθαιρεῖσθαι τῆς μεγαλειότητος [Ἀρτέμιδος] Act.Ap.19.27.
3. raze to the ground, demolish, “πόλεις” Th.1.58, al., LXXIs.14.17; “τείχη” Pl. Mx.244c; τῶν τειχῶν a part of the walls, X.HG4.4.13:—Pass., Th. 5.39, etc.; “καθῃρέθη . . Οἰχαλία δορί” S.Tr.478.
4. cancel, rescind, “τὸ Μεγαρέων ψήφισμα” Th.1.140, cf. 139, Plu.Per.29; “ἔργον κ. λόγῳ” Philem.140.
5. as law-term, condemn, ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος a verdict of guilty, Lys.13.37: c. inf., “ἐμὲ πάλος καθαιρεῖ . . λαβεῖν” S. Ant.275; so prob. “κατά με . . Ἀΐδας ἕλοι πατρὶ ξυνθανεῖν” Id.OC1689 (lyr.), cf. E.Or.862; simply, decide, “ὅ τι ἂν αἱ πλείους ψῆφοι καθαιρῶσι” D.H.7.36, 39; in book-keeping, ἃν καθαιρῶσιν αἱ ψῆφοι whatever the counters (or accounts) prove, prob. in D.18.227.
6. reduce, “τῶν αὐξανομένων καὶ καθαιρουμένων γραμμῶν” Arist.Ph.237b9; “τοῦ ἀποστήματος πεφυκότος ἐπὶ πολὺ καθαιρεῖν τὰ μεγέθη” Phld.Sign.9; of mild caustics, τὰ ὑπερσαρκέοντα καθαιρεῖ (prob. for καθαίρει) Hp.Ulc.14, cf. Gal.11.756; “τὸ σῶμα κ. διαίταις” Plu.Ant.53: Rhet., minimize, Arist.Rh.1376a34.
III. overpower, seize, “κὰδ δέ μιν ὕπνος ᾕρει” Od. 9.372; κ. τινά overtake, X.Cyr.4.3.16; κ. τινὰ ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ catch in the act of folly, S.Ant.383 (anap.): c. gen. partis, κ. τῶν ὤτων seize by . . , Theoc.5.133:—Pass., “κ. ὑπό τινος” Hdt.6.29.
IV. fetch down as a reward or prize, “καθαιρεῖν ἀγῶνας” Plu.Pomp.8: metaph., achieve, “ἀγώνιον . . εὖχος ἔργῳ καθελών” Pi.O.10(11).63: fut. inf. καθαρεῖν, παστόν, μίτραν, Epigr. in Berl.Sitzb.1894.908 (Asia Minor):—Med., “φόνῳ καθαιρεῖσθ᾽, οὐ λόγῳ, τὰ πράγματα” E.Supp.749:—Pass., Hdt.7.50.