annihilate

Verb

WordNet 3.0

Verb (1)

  1. kill in large numbers“the plague wiped out an entire population”Synonyms: eliminateextinguisheradicatewipe outdecimatecarry off
Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Annihilate \An*ni"hi*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Annihilated; p. pr. & vb. n. Annihilating.] [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. File, a row.]

1.To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to destroy the existence of; to cause to cease to be. [1913 Webster]

It impossible for any body to be utterly annihilated.— Bacon.[1913 Webster]

2.To destroy the form or peculiar distinctive properties of, so that the specific thing no longer exists; as, to annihilate a forest by cutting down the trees. "To annihilate the army." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

3.To destroy or eradicate, as a property or attribute of a thing; to make of no effect; to destroy the force, etc., of; as, to annihilate an argument, law, rights, goodness. [1913 Webster]


Annihilate \An*ni"hi*late\ (an*n[imac]"h[i^]*l[asl]t), a. Annihilated. [Archaic] --Swift. [1913 Webster]
Advertisement