annihilating
AdjectiveWordNet 3.0
Adjective (2)
- wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction“possessing annihilative power”“a devastating hurricane”“the guns opened a withering fire”Synonyms: annihilativedevastatingwithering
- making light of“afire with annihilating invective”“a devastating portrait of human folly”“to compliments inflated I've a withering reply — W.S.Gilbert”Synonyms: devastatingwithering
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]
annihilating \annihilating\ adj. criticising vehemently and effectively; making light of; as, afire with annihilating invective.
Syn: devastating, withering. [WordNet 1.5]