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
- expunction noun
- expunger noun
- unexpunged adjective
Etymology
Origin of expunge
1595–1605; < Latin expungere to blot out, erase, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + pungere to prick
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.
He disclaims any effort to reverse or expunge the old case.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
“These incredible men are incarcerated firefighters saving our state, homes and communities from fire,” she wrote, adding that the firefighters can expunge their felony records and “go into firefighting” when they get out.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2024
That was no accident; local leaders saw the new interstate system as a golden opportunity to expunge “blight,” which they claimed acted as a barrier to development.
From Slate • Aug. 28, 2024
The lawsuit seeks to require the state not only to stop enforcing the law, but also to remove those convicted under the statute from the sex offender registry and expunge their convictions.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2024
When the Spanish governor tried to recruit the Hopi to live in missions, their leaders told him not to bother: the epidemic soon would expunge them from the earth.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
