expunge
Americanverb (used with object)
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to strike or blot out; erase; obliterate.
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to efface; wipe out or destroy.
verb
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to delete or erase; blot out; obliterate
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to wipe out or destroy
Usage
What does expunge mean? Expunge means to erase, delete, cross out, or destroy. Expunge is especially used in the context of law, in which it means to remove an arrest or conviction from a person’s public criminal record. A record that has been altered in this way can be described as expunged. The process of expunging can be called expungement or expunction. Example: Many criminal justice reform advocates support the law, which would expand the range of offenses that could be expunged from criminal records.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of expunge
1595–1605; < Latin expungere to blot out, erase, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + pungere to prick
Explanation
To expunge is to cross out or eliminate. After Nicholas proved he had been in school on the day in question, the absence was expunged from his record. Expunge is often something you do to a document. When government censors block out text in documents before making them public, they are expunging the text. You can also use the word in a more metaphorical sense. The principal tried to expunge all traces of bullying from the school by implementing a kindness initiative and treating all complaints as serious.
Vocabulary lists containing expunge
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Expunge, eks-punj′, v.t. to wipe out: to efface.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Expunge same; and say—"in the style of orations."
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
Expunge the, and let dedicating and giving here stand as participles only; for in the construction of nouns, they must have not only a definitive before them, but the preposition of after them.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
You say: "Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the power of Congress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and yet the other guarantees of personal liberty would remain unchanged."
From The Writings of Abraham Lincoln — Volume 6: 1862-1863 by Lincoln, Abraham
Expunge that word and all that it means to you from your vocabulary, if you can.
From The Lighted Way by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
