annihilate

annihilate
verb (-lated; -lating) Etymology: Late Latin annihilatus, past participle of annihilare to reduce to nothing, from Latin ad- + nihil nothing — more at nil Date: 1525 transitive verb 1. a. to cause to be of no effect ; nullify b. to destroy the substance or force of 2. to regard as of no consequence 3. to cause to cease to exist; especially kill 4. a. to destroy a considerable part of <
bombs annihilated the city
>
; to vanquish completely ; rout <
annihilated the visitors 56-0
>
5. to cause (a particle and its antiparticle) to vanish by annihilating intransitive verb of a particle and its antiparticle to vanish or cease to exist by coming together and changing into other forms of energy (as photons) • annihilation nounannihilator nounannihilatory adjective

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Annihilate — An*ni hi*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Annihilated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Annihilating}.] [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. {File}, a row.] 1. To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • annihilate — [ə nī′ə lāt΄] vt. annihilated, annihilating [< LL(Ec) annihilatus, pp. of annihilare, to bring to nothing < L ad, to + nihil, nothing] 1. to destroy completely; put out of existence; demolish [an atomic bomb can annihilate a city] 2. to… …   English World dictionary

  • Annihilate — An*ni hi*late (an*n[imac] h[i^]*l[asl]t), a. Annihilated. [Archaic] Swift. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • annihilate — I verb abolish, annul, blast, cancel, consume, crush, cut down, decimate, demolish, destroy, devour, dismantle, dissolve, efface, eliminate, end, eradicate, expunge, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, invalidate, kill, liquidate, massacre,… …   Law dictionary

  • annihilate — (v.) 1520s, from an obsolete adjective meaning reduced to nothing (late 14c.), originally the pp. of a verb, anihil, from O.Fr. annichiler (14c.), from L.L. annihilare to reduce to nothing, from L. ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + nihil nothing (see… …   Etymology dictionary

  • annihilate — extinguish, *abolish, abate Analogous words: obliterate, efface, expunge, blot out, cancel, *erase: extirpate, *exterminate, eradicate, wipe Contrasted words: create, *invent, discover: *make, form, fashion, forge, shape: * …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • annihilate — [v] destroy completely abate, abolish, abrogate, annul, blot out*, crush*, decimate, demolish, do in*, eradicate, erase, expunge, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, finish off, invalidate, liquidate, massacre, murder, negate, nullify, obliterate …   New thesaurus

  • annihilate — ► VERB 1) destroy completely. 2) informal defeat completely. DERIVATIVES annihilation noun annihilator noun. ORIGIN Latin annihilare reduce to nothing …   English terms dictionary

  • annihilate — annihilative /euh nuy euh lay tiv, euh leuh /, annihilatory /euh nuy euh leuh tawr ee, tohr ee/, adj. /euh nuy euh layt /, v.t., annihilated, annihilating. 1. to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly: The heavy bombing almost… …   Universalium

  • annihilate — [16] Annihilate comes from the past participle of the late Latin verb annihilāre, meaning literally ‘reduce to nothing’ (a formation based on the noun nihil ‘nothing’, source of English nihilism and nil). There was actually an earlier English… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • annihilate — [[t]əna͟ɪɪleɪt[/t]] annihilates, annihilating, annihilated 1) VERB To annihilate something means to destroy it completely. [V n] There are lots of ways of annihilating the planet... [V n] The Army was annihilated. Derived words: annihilation… …   English dictionary

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