• IPA: /əbˈlɪtəɹeɪt/

obliterate (obliterates, present participle obliterating; past and past participle obliterated)

1. To remove completely, leaving no trace; to wipe out; to destroy.

   • The harsh and bitter feelings of this or that experience are slowly obliterated.

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:

     Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

• See also Thesaurus:destroy

• obliteration

• French: annihiler
• German: auslöschen
• Italian: obliterare, annullare, spazzare
• Portuguese: aniquilar, obliterar
• Russian: уничто́жить
• Spanish: remover, borrar, destruir, obliterar, arrasar