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Definition of annihilate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

annihilate

verb
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪt/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they annihilate
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪt/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪt/
he / she / it annihilates
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪts/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪts/
past simple annihilated
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪd/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪd/
past participle annihilated
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪd/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪd/
-ing form annihilating
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪŋ/
 
/əˈnaɪəleɪtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. annihilate somebody/something/yourself to destroy somebody/something/yourself completely
    • The human race has enough weapons to annihilate itself.
  2. annihilate somebody/something to defeat somebody/something completely
    • She annihilated her opponent, who failed to win a single game.
  3. Word Originlate Middle English (originally as an adjective meaning ‘destroyed, annulled’): from late Latin annihilatus ‘reduced to nothing’, from the verb annihilare, from ad- ‘to’ + nihil ‘nothing’. The sense ‘destroy utterly’ dates from the mid 16th cent.
See annihilate in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
perspective
noun
 
 
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