annihilation

[ uh-nahy-uh-ley-shuhn ]

/ əˌnaɪ əˈleɪ ʃən /

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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.

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Origin of annihilation

First recorded in 1630–40; from French or directly from Late Latin annihilātiōn- (stem of annihilātiō ); see origin at annihilate, -ion

Words nearby annihilation

Annie, Annie Oakley, Annigoni, annihilable, annihilate, annihilation, annihilation radiation, annihilator, Anniston, anniv., anniversary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use annihilation in a sentence

We came close to destroying all life on Earth during the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation.
AC Feels Great, But It’s Terrible for the Planet. Here’s How to Fix That|Eric Dean Wilson|June 30, 2021|Time
This type of particle annihilation gives off gamma rays with certain wavelengths.
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in our galaxy|Maria Temming|May 31, 2021|Science News For Students
Fourteen spots in the sky gave off the gamma rays expected from matter-antimatter annihilation events.
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in our galaxy|Maria Temming|May 31, 2021|Science News For Students
It’s set chiefly in Des Moines in the 1950s, when America was perfect except for the threat of nuclear annihilation, racial oppression, the birth of unbridled consumerism and little Billy’s mother’s cooking.
The best audiobooks for your summer drive, sorted by length — and who’s in the car|Katherine A. Powers|May 27, 2021|Washington Post

For North American bats, contracting this new virus carried the risk of absolute annihilation.
Beware Of Humans|Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com)|April 26, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Nazi texts proclaimed that the annihilation or expulsion of the Armenians was a “compelling necessity.”
The 20th-Century Dictator Most Idolized by Hitler|William O’Connor|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
So she has to be perfect and self-sacrificing to the point of self-annihilation.
Postpartum Stigma: Why My Patient Committed Suicide|Jean Kim|August 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The object of these scarli is to manifest the popular exultation at the annihilation of feudal tyranny.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
To his excited imagination, we time and again escaped complete wreck and annihilation by a mere hair's breadth.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
Its history was no doubt as stirring as that of others of the border castles, which more fortunately escaped annihilation.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
Annihilation of ones own identity in the moment is possible in natures domainnever in mans.
The Fifth String |John Philip Sousa
To wish to separate technique from poetry is a modern folly which will lead to nothing but the annihilation of Art itself.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life|Thophile Gautier

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

annihilation

Origin of annihilation

Words nearby annihilation

Words related to annihilation

How to use annihilation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for annihilation