Annihilate

• POS: Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: an=ni=hi=late

CIDE DICTIONARY

Annihilate, v. t. [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. File, a row.].

•  To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to destroy the existence of; to cause to cease to be.  [1913 Webster]

  "It impossible for any body to be utterly annihilated."  [1913 Webster]
•  To destroy the form or peculiar distinctive properties of, so that the specific thing no longer exists; as, to annihilate a forest by cutting down the trees.  Macaulay.  [1913 Webster]
•  To destroy or eradicate, as a property or attribute of a thing; to make of no effect; to destroy the force, etc., of; as, to annihilate an argument, law, rights, goodness.  [1913 Webster]

Annihilate, a. 

 Annihilated.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Annihilate, v.tr.
1 completely destroy.
2 defeat utterly; make insignificant or powerless.

Derivative

annihilator n.

Etymology

LL annihilare (as AN-(2), nihil nothing)

THESAURUS

Annihilate

abate, abolish, abrogate, abscind, amputate, annul, ban, bar, bereave of life, blot out, bob, bring to naught, cancel, carry away, carry off, chloroform, clip, crop, cull, cut, cut away, cut down, cut off, cut out, decimate, demolish, deprive of life, deracinate, destroy, dispatch, dispose of, do away with, do for, do to death, dock, efface, eliminate, end, enucleate, eradicate, erase, except, excise, exclude, execute, expunge, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, finish, finish off, immolate, invalidate, isolate, kill, knock off, launch into eternity, liquidate, lop, lynch, make away with, martyr, martyrize, massacre, murder, mutilate, negate, negative, nip, nullify, obliterate, pare, peel, pick out, poison, prune, purge, put away, put down, put to death, put to sleep, quash, quell, quench, raze, remove, remove from life, repeal, revoke, root out, root up, rout, ruin, rule out, sacrifice, set apart, set aside, shave, shear, slay, squash, stamp out, starve, strike off, strip, strip off, suppress, sweep away, take life, take off, take out, truncate, unbuild, undo, uproot, vitiate, void, wipe out, wrack, wreck

ROGET THESAURUS

Annihilate

Inexistence

VB not exist, have no existence, be null and void, cease to exist, pass away, perish, be extinct, become extinct, die out, disappear, melt away, dissolve, leave not a rack behind, go, be no more, die, annihilate, render null, nullify, abrogate, destroy, take away, remove, obliterate, extirpate.

Destruction

VB be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.