annihilate

verb

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an·ni·hi·late | \ ə-ˈnī-ə-ˌlāt

annihilated; annihilating

Essential Meaning of annihilate

1 : to destroy (something or someone) completely Bombs annihilated the city. The enemy troops were annihilated.

2 : to defeat (someone) completely He annihilated his opponent in the last election.

Full Definition of annihilate

transitive verb

1a : to cause to cease to exist : to do away with entirely so that nothing remains

b : to destroy a considerable part of Bombs annihilated the city. The enemy troops were annihilated.

c : to defeat overwhelmingly : rout annihilated the visitors 56–0

2a : to cause to be of no effect : nullify a right to freedom that cannot be annihilated

b : to destroy the substance or force of Fear can annihilate one's confidence.

3 : to regard as of no consequence

4 : to cause (something, such as a particle and its antiparticle) to vanish or cease to exist by coming together and changing into other forms of energy (such as photons) matter and antimatter annihilate each other

intransitive verb

of a particle and its antiparticle : to vanish or cease to exist by coming together and changing into other forms of energy (such as photons)

Other Words from annihilate Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About annihilate

Examples of annihilate in a Sentence

The enemy troops were annihilated. He annihilated his opponent in the last election.

Recent Examples on the Web Bear in mind, this is still a sport tourer, and numbers like these were, until very recently, reserved for bikes with slick tires and track apexes to annihilate. — Peter Jackson, Robb Report, 14 Jan. 2022 Everything was done to annihilate our culture and people. — David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Nov. 2021 Faced with mutations, T cells will usually simply ignore them and annihilate their targets all the same. — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2021 Joe Jonas also laughed when his wife, Sophie Turner, used her roast moment to annihilate him for his old purity ring and former exes. — Carrie Wittmer, Glamour, 24 Nov. 2021 What unleashes the destructive force that can potentially annihilate the cell? — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2021 In Dreher’s view, the speed and extremity of this reaction showed how ready Western liberals were to try to annihilate rather than engage with traditional culture. — The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021 After a brief period of massive annihilation, creating even more photons, the excess electrons annihilate away with the positrons. — Ethan Siegel, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021 Finally, when the Universe is now milliseconds old, protons and neutrons annihilate away with anti-protons and anti-neutrons. — Ethan Siegel, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021

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