annihilate
Use Annihilate in a sentence
əˌleɪt verb (used with object), an·ni·hi·lat·ed, an·ni·hi·lat·ing.
1.
to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly: The heavy bombing almost annihilated the city.
2.
to destroy the collective existence or main body of; wipe out: to annihilate an army.
3.
to annul; make void: to annihilate a law.
4.
to cancel the effect of; nullify.
5.
to defeat completely; vanquish: Our basketball team annihilated the visiting team.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English adnichilat(e) destroyed < Late Latin annihilātus brought to nothing, annihilated (past participle of annihilāre) (Latin an- an-2 + nihil nothing + -ātus -ate1)
1350–1400; Middle English adnichilat(e) destroyed < Late Latin annihilātus brought to nothing, annihilated (past participle of annihilāre) (Latin an- an-2 + nihil nothing + -ātus -ate1)
Related forms
an·ni·hi·la·tive [uh-nahy-uh-ley-tiv, ‐uh-luh‐] , an·ni·hi·la·to·ry [uh-nahy-uh-luh-tawr-ee, ‐tohr-ee] , adjective
[uh-nahy-uh-ley-tiv, ‐uh-luh‐] , an·ni·hi·la·to·ry [uh-nahy-uh-luh-tawr-ee, ‐tohr-ee] , adjective un·an·ni·hi·lat·ed, adjective
un·an·ni·hi·la·tive, adjective
un·an·ni·hi·la·to·ry, adjective
Synonyms
1. ravage, devastate, desolate. 1, 2. smash, obliterate, demolish.
1. ravage, devastate, desolate. 1, 2. smash, obliterate, demolish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To annihilate
00:10
Annihilate
is an SAT word you need to know.
So is acquire. Does it mean:
| to come into possession or ownership of; get as one's own: |
| without water |
Collins
World English Dictionary
annihilate (əˈnaɪəˌleɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to destroy completely; extinguish |
| 2. | informal (tr) to defeat totally, as in debate or argument |
| 3. | (intr) physics to undergo annihilation |
| [C16: from Late Latin annihilāre to bring to nothing, from Latin nihil nothing] | |
| annihilable | |
| —adj | |
| an'nihilative | |
| —adj | |
| an'nihilator | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
annihilate
1520s, from an obsolete adj. meaning "reduced to nothing" (late 14c.), originally the pp. of a verb, anihil, from O.Fr. annichiler, from L.L. annihilare "to reduce to nothing," from L. ad- "to" + nihil "nothing" (see nil).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
Integration does not annihilate the immigrants' culture.
Not only do these beauties annihilate glare, they also minimize fog-ups, thanks to a series of large vents around the lens.
Each seemed obsessed with but a single thought: to annihilate the other before the other annihilated him.
As every schoolboy knows, if you bring a particle and an antiparticle together, they annihilate each other in a burst of energy.
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