obliterate

verb

oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈbli-tə-ˌrāt How to pronounce obliterate (audio)
ō-
obliterated; obliterating

transitive verb

1
a
: to remove utterly from recognition or memory
… a successful love crowned all other successes and obliterated all other failures. J. W. Krutch
b
: to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of
The tide eventually obliterated all evidence of our sandcastles.
c
medical : to cause (something, such as a bodily part, a scar, or a duct conveying body fluid) to disappear or collapse : remove sense 4
a blood vessel obliterated by inflammation
2
: to make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or wearing away
A dimness like a fog envelops consciousness / As mist obliterates a crag. Emily Dickinson
3
: cancel sense 2
obliterate a postage stamp
obliteration noun
obliterator noun

Did you know?

Obliterate has been preserved in our language for centuries, and that’s not nothing! The earliest evidence in our files traces obliterate back to the mid-16th century as a word for removing something from memory. Soon after, English speakers began to use it for the specific act of blotting out or obscuring anything written, and eventually its meaning was generalized to removing anything from existence. In the meantime, physicians began using obliterate for the surgical act of filling or closing up a vessel, cavity, or passage with tissue, which would then cause the bodily part to collapse or disappear. Today obliterate thrives in the English lexicon with the various senses it has acquired over the years, including its final stamp on the language: “to cancel (something, especially a postage stamp).”

Example Sentences

in a stroke, the March snowstorm obliterated our hopes for an early spring
Recent Examples on the Web Another expected 1 million bpd increase over the next year will obliterate the current record of 12.3 million bpd set in 2019. Steven Tian, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2022 The plundering of Potemkin’s grave is of a piece with Russia’s efforts to obliterate Ukrainian identity. Marc Santora, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2022 While there's a growing picture that Russia's assault on Ukraine has not gone to plan, the country continues to use its air power to obliterate cities and target civilians to push Ukraine into submission. Paul Leblanc, CNN, 26 Mar. 2022 Even then, public records requests and lawsuits can obliterate that anonymity, said Amy Oppenheimer, a lawyer whose San Francisco Bay Area firm specializes in workplace and school investigations. Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2022 Mesh Wi-Fi systems obliterate dead spots, combining a base router and multiple satellites that run on a single network. Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 7 Oct. 2022 People who are already bustling with antibodies may obliterate a second shot’s contents before the vaccine has a chance to teach immune cells anything new. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 26 Sep. 2022 And any return to power by former President Donald Trump, who spun US diplomacy on its head by dissing Western allies and coddling tyrants, could obliterate Biden's efforts to save international law. Stephen Collinson, CNN, 20 Sep. 2022 The state’s Democrats made an over-the-top try earlier this year to gerrymander the state’s political map to all but obliterate New York’s Republican congressional delegation. Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obliterate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin oblīterātus, oblitterātus, past participle of oblīterāre, oblitterāre "to cause to be forgotten or fall into disuse, make disappear," from ob- "against, facing" + -līterāre, litterāre, verbal derivative of lītera, littera letter entry 1 — more at ob-

Note: The original meaning of oblīterāre was apparently "to wipe out letters, words, etc.," but this sense is not clearly attested in classical Latin. Attested senses appear to have been influenced by oblītus, past participle of oblīvīscī "to forget, put out of mind" (cf. oblivion).

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of obliterate was in 1548

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Dictionary Entries Near obliterate

Cite this Entry

“Obliterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obliterate. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

Kids Definition

obliterate

verb
oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈblit-ə-ˌrāt How to pronounce obliterate (audio)
ō-
obliterated; obliterating
: to remove or destroy completely : wipe out
obliteration noun

Medical Definition

obliterate

transitive verb
oblit·​er·​ate ə-ˈblit-ə-ˌrāt, ō- How to pronounce obliterate (audio)
obliterated; obliterating
: to cause to disappear (as a bodily part or a scar) or collapse (as a duct conveying body fluid)
a blood vessel obliterated by inflammation
obliteration noun

More from Merriam-Webster on obliterate

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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