obliterate

Meaning

1. To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
2. To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure.
3. To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete.
4. To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue).
5. To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
6. To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
7. Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction.

erase

destroy

blotted out

extirpate

grow over

rase

turn off

clear of

cut to ribbons

drown out

lay waste to

sweep off

mound over

Frequency

Hyphenated as

ob‧lit‧er‧ate

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) + English -ate (suffix meaning ‘to act in [the specified manner]’ forming verbs, and ‘characterized by [the specified thing]’ forming adjectives). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either: * from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or * from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”). cognates * Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”) * Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”)) * Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”) * Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)