as in to erase
to destroy all traces of
time and the weather have expunged any evidence that a thriving community once existed here
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of expunge
The district attorney’s office dismissed Bennett’s charge, Dougherty said, and records related to her case were expunged per Colorado law – including the original police report.
—
Holly Yan, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2026
Kornyev’s client is the barely hanging on Stepinak (Aleksandr Filippenko), a Bolshevik targeted by the secret police told to muzzle and expunge dissenters.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026
There is a process for requesting to have your DNA expunged from CODIS, according to the FBI, but Glaberson, coauthor of the report, said very few people appear to have successfully done so, meaning their DNA will likely remain there in perpetuity.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2026
In September, roughly a month after Kansas City received the federal subpoena for records related to Washington, the nonprofit leader filed petitions in both state and federal courts to have his criminal records expunged.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for expunge
Holly Yan, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2026
Kornyev’s client is the barely hanging on Stepinak (Aleksandr Filippenko), a Bolshevik targeted by the secret police told to muzzle and expunge dissenters.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026
There is a process for requesting to have your DNA expunged from CODIS, according to the FBI, but Glaberson, coauthor of the report, said very few people appear to have successfully done so, meaning their DNA will likely remain there in perpetuity.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2026
In September, roughly a month after Kansas City received the federal subpoena for records related to Washington, the nonprofit leader filed petitions in both state and federal courts to have his criminal records expunged.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for expunge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expunge
Verb
-
Ranger Suarez’s streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings came to an end in a long bottom of the first in which the Kansas City Royals instantly erased a 1-0 Boston Red Sox lead.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2026
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Another benefit of the finale was that any reference to that era was all but erased short of a single Soldier Boy name-drop.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Verb
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Armed with a forestry degree from Yale, Leopold was tasked with running a program to eradicate wolves and mountain lions in New Mexico and Arizona.—
Mark VanderSchaaf,
Twin Cities,
18 May 2026
-
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries where polio has not been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
The Republican Party was then in a state of relative emergency—the Civil War had been won and slavery had been abolished, but Black Americans in the South were still subject to terrorism and intimidation, while whites in the North had shown resistance to the idea of Black suffrage.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
-
After months of shutdown fights, bipartisan condemnation, and calls to abolish ICE entirely, the last thing the administration may want is another headline.—
Philip Wang,
Time,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
The fire destroyed two structures — a cabin and an equipment shed — and forced the evacuation of 11 National Park Service employees, who were rescued by a Santa Barbara County Fire Department helicopter.—
Jack Flemming,
Los Angeles Times,
18 May 2026
-
Covers personal property used to secure a loan as collateral if it's destroyed.—
Liz Knueven,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Expunge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expunge. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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