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 — [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
