Annihilate

/əˈnaɪ.ɪ.leɪt/

Meaning & Definition

verb

to destroy completely; to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence.

The nuclear bomb had the power to annihilate entire cities.

to defeat utterly; to obliterate.

The champion team annihilated their opponents in the final match.

to cause to be no longer in existence; to wipe out.

The invasive species threatened to annihilate the native flora.

to cancel out or negate; to nullify.

The new evidence could annihilate the previous findings of the study.

to make ineffective or useless.

The new law is designed to annihilate the loopholes in the tax system.

Late Latin 'annihilatus,' from 'ad-' + 'nihil,' meaning 'nothing.'

annihilate the competition

To completely outdo or eliminate rivals in business or sports.

annihilate one's hopes

To completely crush or destroy someone's aspirations or dreams.

exterminate

To destroy completely.

eradicate

To eliminate or destroy completely.

obliterate

To remove all traces of.

To completely ruin something.

That exam annihilated my GPA!

To utterly defeat, especially in sports or games.

We annihilated them in the final match!