Did you know?
In medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, a series of dots was used to mark mistakes or to label material that should be deleted from a text, and those deletion dots—known as puncta delentia—can help you remember the history of expunge. Puncta comes from the Latin verb pungere, which can be translated as “to prick or sting” (and you can imagine that a scribe may have felt stung when their mistakes were so punctuated in a manuscript). Pungere is also an ancestor of expunge, as well as a parent of other dotted, pointed, or stinging terms such as punctuate, compunction, poignant, puncture, and pungent.
Examples of expunge in a Sentence
The Week Uk, TheWeek, 24 Jan. 2026
In recent years, clean slate laws have dominated criminal justice reform, focusing on sealing or expunging eligible records.
—Alonzo Martinez, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
But how many of them — like our old friend the Snake Oil Salesman — willingly gave all of that up for the chance to expunge their lifetimes of trauma?
—Jack King, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2026
In 2021, an Alabama family court judge granted Colvin's petition to expunge her record.
—Adam Carlson, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for expunge
Cite this Entry
“Expunge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expunge. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Legal Definition
expunge
transitive verb
