annihilation

[ uh-nahy-uh-ley-shuh n ]

/ əˌnaɪ əˈleɪ ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR annihilation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an act or instance of annihilating, or of completely destroying or defeating someone or something: the brutal annihilation of millions of people.

the state of being annihilated; total destruction; extinction: fear of nuclear annihilation.

Physics.

Also called pair annihilation. the process in which a particle and antiparticle unite, annihilate each other, and produce one or more photons.Compare positronium.
the conversion of rest mass into energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

Nearby words

annie, annie oakley, annigoni, annihilable, annihilate, annihilation, annihilation radiation, annihilator, anniston, anniv., anniversary

Origin of annihilation

1630–40; (< F) < Late Latin annihilātiōn- (stem of annihilātiō). See annihilate, -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for annihilation

It was three or four years of annihilation, and by the end my stomach was in bits.
Daniel Radcliffe: I’m Richer Than One Direction|Tim Teeman|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The consequences of a drug conviction amount to the annihilation of citizenship.
How We Got to Ferguson—a Reading List|David Masciotra|August 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Winters uses that cataclysmic event to examine the slow deterioration of communal life in the face of annihilation.
What Would You Do if the World Was Over?|William O’Connor|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If anything he was much more conservative than JFK, why would Castro risk the annihilation of his country to make him president?
Who Really Killed JFK? Experts Pick the Wildest Conspiracy Theories|Thomas Flynn|November 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Not to mention his infamous photo of the annihilation of a $100,000 Birkin bag.
Celebrity Photographer Tyler Shields Exposes ‘The Dirty Side of Glamour’|Justin Jones|November 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd would be worse than annihilation itself!
Practical Religion|John Charles Ryle
The literal fulfilment of that awful portent was but an incident in the annihilation of the city less than forty years later.
Jesus the Christ|James Edward Talmage
But still the magnificence of the spectacle appealed to my eyes, and my feeling of annihilation gave place to enthusiasm.
Urania|Camille Flammarion
Was it not always supposed that the guillotine is merciful, because quick in annihilation?
Guy Livingstone;|George A. Lawrence
It meant possibly the annihilation of his body, certainly its defeat.
Waterloo|Hilaire Belloc

British Dictionary definitions for annihilation

annihilation

/ (əˌnaɪəˈleɪʃən) /

noun

total destruction

the act of annihilating

physics the destruction of a particle and its antiparticle when they collide. The annihilation of an electron with a positron generates two or, very rarely, three photons of annihilation radiation . The annihilation of a nucleon with its antiparticle generates several pions

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for annihilation

annihilation

1630s, from Middle French annihilation (restored from Old French anichilacion, 14c.), or directly from Late Latin annihilationem (nominative annihilatio), noun of action from past participle stem of annihilare (see annihilate).

annihilation

noun

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Origin of annihilation

Examples from the Web for annihilation

British Dictionary definitions for annihilation

annihilation

noun

Word Origin and History for annihilation

annihilation