obliterate
[uh-blit-uh-reyt]
- to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely.
- to blot out or render undecipherable (writing, marks, etc.); efface.
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Origin of obliterate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for obliterate on Thesaurus.com2. expunge.
Synonym study
2. See cancel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for obliterated
Contemporary Examples
By Dan P. Lee, New York Magazine She was 22 when her memory was obliterated.
Lava and ash fell for days; the sun was obliterated for three months.
The fiasco over Proposition 8, she notes, should have been a case for the Avengers, but they were now “obliterated.”
Extras like foreign languages and Greek classics have been all but obliterated from the national curriculum.
A British shell fell short and obliterated his sergeant; Lewis, knocked out, had an out-of-body experience.
Historical Examples
A vision of gray eyes, blurred in tears of regret, had obliterated all that was material.
ThoroughbredsW. A. Fraser
The action of the plough has often obliterated the traces of ancient barrows.
English VillagesP. H. Ditchfield
She looked at her work and obliterated the expression again.
The Eternal CityHall Caine
The ancient priory of Austin Friars was at Ludlow, but is obliterated.
England, Picturesque and DescriptiveJoel Cook
A bunch of Drilgoes, caught by it, were obliterated in an instant.
obliterate
- (tr) to destroy every trace of; wipe out completely
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin oblitterāre to erase, from ob- out + littera letter
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 obliterated
obliterate
v.
c.1600, from Latin obliteratus, past participle of obliterare "cause to disappear, blot out, erase, efface," figuratively "cause to be forgotten," from ob "against" (see ob-) + littera (also litera) "letter, script" (see letter (n.)); abstracted from phrase literas scribere "write across letters, strike out letters." Related: Obliterated; obliterating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
obliterate
(ə-blĭt′ə-rāt′, ō-blĭt′-)- To remove an organ or another body part completely, as by surgery, disease, or radiation.
- To blot out, especially through filling of a natural space by fibrosis or inflammation.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.