annihilate

verb

an·ni·hi·late | \ ə-ˈnī-ə-ˌlāt

annihilated; annihilating

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)

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Examples of annihilate in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Damage to the carbon fiber liner then propagated and caused it to burst, starting a chain reaction that annihilated the rocket and its payload. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "SpaceX and NASA Reach Agreement on Astronaut Safety," 20 Aug. 2018 In other words, anything that falls into a black hole gets annihilated, leaving no external trace of its existence. — Frank Wilczek, WSJ, "Black Holes May Have ‘Hair’ That We Can See," 3 Jan. 2019 These include any expression of pride or religious identity by members of the Muslim Uighur community, or support for that community, as Beijing annihilates its culture. — Crispin Sartwell, WSJ, "What’s Worse Than Facebook?," 6 Jan. 2019 Which is to say, the grim, yet perversely fascinating possibility that our technological creations might just annihilate us. — Rob Reid, Ars Technica, "Ars on your lunch break: Transforming citizens into scientists with satellites," 2 Nov. 2018 The Spanish were double reigning European champions as well as World Cup holders, and yet a full on collapse, combined with tactical masterclass from Louis van Gaal saw them get annihilated 5-1 by the Netherlands in their opening game. — SI.com, "World Cup Curse: Germany are Just the Latest Reigning Champions Eliminated in Group Stage," 28 June 2018 Another sequence juxtaposes a Himmler speech about annihilating the past with a Jewish community in hiding celebrating a Bar Mitzvah, with all its attendant ceremony and history. — Samantha Nelson, The Verge, "Season 3 of The Man in the High Castle doubles down on science fiction — and stumbles," 27 Sep. 2018 Further Reading Ars on your lunch break: What happens when China curb-stomps your startup Today’s episode starts in the greener pastures that Chris’ startup, 3DR, found after Chinese behemoth DJI annihilated his drone manufacturing business. — Rob Reid, Ars Technica, "Ars on your lunch break: How to survive competing with China," 25 Oct. 2018 Even more exciting, the bright gamma-ray glow fit quite well to dark matter being annihilated into a pair of matter/antimatter quarks. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Gamma ray evidence for dark matter outshone by a flock of pulsars," 10 Aug. 2018

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.