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expunge - 5 dictionary results

ex⋅punge

[ik-spuhnj]
–verb (used with object), -punged, -pung⋅ing.
1. to strike or blot out; erase; obliterate.
2. to efface; wipe out or destroy.

Origin:
1595–1605; < L expungere to blot out, erase, equiv. to ex- ex- 1 + pungere to prick


ex⋅pung⋅er, noun
ex·punge   (ĭk-spŭnj')   
tr.v.   ex·punged, ex·pung·ing, ex·pung·es
  1. To erase or strike out: "I have corrected some factual slips, expunged some repetitions" (Kenneth Tynan).
  2. To eliminate completely; annihilate. See Synonyms at erase.

[Latin expungere : ex-, ex- + pungere, to prick; see peuk- in Indo-European roots.]
ex·pung'er n.

Expunge

Ex*punge"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expunged; p. pr. & vb. n. Expunging.] [L. expungere, expunctum, prick out, expunge, settle an account, execute; ex out + pungere to prick, puncture. See Pungent.]

1. To blot out, as with pen; to rub out; to efface designedly; to obliterate; to strike out wholly; as, to expunge words, lines, or sentences.

2. To strike out; to wipe out or destroy; to annihilate; as, to expugne an offense. --Sandys.

Expugne the whole, or lop th' excrescent parts. --Pope.

Syn: To efface; erase; obliterate; strike out; destroy; annihilate; cancel.

expunge 
1602, from L. expungere "mark (a name on a list) for deletion" by pricking dots above or below it, lit. "prick out," from ex- "out" + pungere "to prick, stab."

Main Entry: ex·punge
Pronunciation: ik-'sp&nj
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: ex·punged; ex·pung·ing
: to cancel out or destroy completely <expunge the court records of an acquitted defendant> —ex·punge·ment noun
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