排 means 'to push out' or 'to arrange in order', and 除 means 'to remove' or 'to get rid of'. Together, 排除 literally conveys the idea of 'pushing out and removing' — hence its core meaning: to eliminate, exclude, or rule out something unwanted, incorrect, or irrelevant. It is commonly used in formal, technical, or analytical contexts — especially in medicine, science, engineering, and logic — where one systematically dismisses possibilities or factors.

This verb often appears with objects like doubts (怀疑), causes (原因), risks (风险), or errors (错误). It frequently follows modal verbs like ’t be able to' (无法), 能 (can), or 必须 (must), and pairs with complements like 掉 or 干净 in spoken usage (e.g., 排除掉). Unlike casual synonyms like 去掉, 排除 carries a sense of deliberate, reasoned elimination — not just physical removal but intellectual or diagnostic exclusion.