blot out

1. Obliterate, wipe out of existence or memory, as in At least one Indian nation was blotted out as the pioneers moved west, or The trauma of the accident blotted out all her memory of recent events. This idiom, first recorded in 1516, uses the verb to blot in the sense of making something illegible by spotting or staining it with ink. The New Testament has it (Acts 3:19): “Repent ye ... that your sins may be blotted out.”

Example Sentences

He's previously said that his earliest memory was "a massive ship at the end of my street, towering over the houses and blotting out the sun".

From BBC

Within three hours, black smoke billowing down from the hills blotted out the sun as locals fled, streets jammed with cars, and anxiety turned to flat-out panic.

From Los Angeles Times

Foster lamented that the "dark cloud" that is Trump has blotted out what should be a moment "historic to women and girls" of the Harris candidacy.

From Salon

In a later bid to blot out those memories, the Yankees leveled that stadium and built another one across the street.

From Los Angeles Times

Will it be a fiery landscape where sizzling sidewalks cause second-degree burns, wildfire smoke blots out the sun, and water flows only sometimes, and mostly not at all?

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• consume 
• crush 
• damage 
• dismantle 
• end 
• eradicate 
• gut 
• impair 
• kill 
• maim 
• ravage 
• raze 
• ruin 
• sabotage 
• shatter 
• smash 
• smash-up 
• wipe out 
• wreck