† obliterateadj.
Obsolete.
1. Blotted out, effaced; cancelled; obliterated. poetic in later use.
a. Originally Scottish. As past participle.
ΚΠ
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 314 All processis, writtingis thairanent to be cancellat and obliturat.
1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. ii. xvii. §1 The Prints of Moses footsteps, almost obliterate and ouergrown by the sloth and negligence of former times.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems ii. ii. iii. xi A name..through time almost obliterate.
c1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 190 It is concluded that all those greevances be obliterat and buried.
1693 J. Fraser Iona in W. Macfarlane Geogr. Coll. Scotl. (1907) II. 216 Ther hes been many inscriptions upon the tombs and pillars, the most is obliterat.
1834 Ld. Houghton Mod. Greece in Mem. Many Scenes (1844) 67 History records a time (Though in the splendour of the after-light Nearly obliterate).
b. As adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [adjective] > effaced, obliterated
cancelled1539
obliterated1611
worn-out1612
obliteratea1631
out-razed1638
erased1848
exscinded1877
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1956) VIII. 141 Empouerished and forgotten, and obliterate families.
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 32 It may maintaine..a legible possession, against an obliterate Claime.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. v. 106 Parts of their Bodies become obliterate and defaced.
1860 C. Heavysege Ct. Filippo 35 Dwindled doubtful to obliterate shade.
2. Entomology. Indistinct, almost effaced. rare.
ΚΠ
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. 292 Obliterate, when the borders of spots fade into the general ground-colour; and when elevations and depressions, &c. are so little raised or sunk from the general surface, as to be almost erased.
Derivatives
obliterateness n. rare the condition or state of being blotted out or obliterated.
ΚΠ
?1762 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1883) IV. 222 The Bitumen and Nitre..occasioned the present state of its Obliterateness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
obliteratev.
/əˈblɪtəreɪt/, U.S. /əˈblɪdəˌreɪt/, /oʊˈblɪdəˌreɪt/ 1. transitive. To wipe out (a mental impression, memory, feeling, etc.); to do away with, destroy (a quality, characteristic, etc.). Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > deliberate forgetting, condoning > [verb (transitive)] > consign to oblivion
defacec1386
to strike by1457
efface1490
unlearna1500
obliterate1548
delete1563
oblivionize1593
dismiss1594
bury1595
oblivion1659
obliviate1661
erase1695
to go into the discard1927
cancel1990
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lxxxiiv Neither fire, rust, nor frettyng tynne shal..obliterate his glorye.
1563 R. Reynolds Foundacion of Rhetorike f. xxxiij The fame of Zopryus [sic] and glorie of the facte, will never be obliterated, or put out of memorie, if this were not profitable to the kyngdome of Perlia.
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 224 To obliterate, eradicate, and vtterly extinguish the name of Bishops.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. H4 He designed to obliterate and extinguish the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors. View more context for this quotation
1739 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) VI. 322 It entirely obliterates the glory of all his other actions.
1776 W. J. Mickle in tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad x. 466 (note) The friendship existing in a small society might easily obliterate the memory of one custom, while the less unfriendly one of tattooing was handed down.
1848 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. 217 In a few months the excesses of the government obliterated the impression which had been made on the public mind by the excesses of the opposition.
1881 B. F. Westcott & F. J. A. Hort New Test. in Orig. Greek II. Introd. i. 5 The professional training of scribes can rarely obliterate individual differences.
1920 R. Fry Vision & Design 198 Their dislike of the picture as illustration actually obliterated or prevented the purely aesthetic approval which they would probably otherwise have experienced.
1961 A. Miller Misfits v. 53 They all laugh, trying to obliterate his evident uneasiness.
1994 U. Hegi Stones from River xix. 440 Next to Trudi Montag, they could reinvent themselves, could obliterate whatever doubts were theirs alone at night.
2.
a. transitive. To blot out (anything written, drawn, imprinted, etc.) so as to leave no distinct traces; to erase, delete, efface.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)] > writing, etc.
deface1340
razea1393
blot1530
to put out1530
delete1540
dispunct1570
obliterate1578
expunct1596
expunge1602
erase1605
dele1612
dispunge1622
retrench1645
liturate1656
excise1663
to scratch out1712
efface1737
extrapolate1831
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man sig. Biiv Let vs..wholy obliterate their writyngs.
1609 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. (ed. 2) Obliterate, blot or scrape out.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xxvi. 235/1 The Senate..decreed that his name should be obliterated out of all monuments in Rome.
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra ii. iii. §21 When we forget Things..the Impressions are obliterated.
1796 G. Steevens Let. 24 Oct. in J. B. Nichols Illustr. Lit. Hist. 18th Cent. (1848) II. 7 Some such MS. might have been Chaucer's original. He might have commenced his immitation in verse; and when he changed his design might have been too lazy to obliterate the vestiges of his first resolution.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. iv. 66 The colours were half obliterated by time and damp.
1863 J. H. Burton Book-hunter (ed. 2) 44 As he did not obliterate the original matter, the printer was rather puzzled.
1929 Travel Jan. 17/2 And where lies the robber hoard—perhaps pieces of eight, onzas, massive golden jewels of Old Spain—to which point these half-obliterated symbols?
1985 J. Morris Last Lett. from Hav x. 85 Their inscriptions have long been obliterated.
b. transitive. To cause to disappear; to efface (something visible or perceived by the senses).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)]
dilghec897
scrape1303
washc1380
fade1398
razea1425
out-razec1425
racec1450
enrasea1492
stramp1535
wipe1535
facec1540
cancel1559
outblot1573
to wash out1580
to blur out1581
obliterate1607
efface1611
dislimna1616
excerebrate1621
demark1655
rufflea1680
erase1695
scrub1828
overscore1834
elide1846
trash1859
to wipe (off) the slate1921
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > make invisible [verb (transitive)] > cause to vanish or disappear
formeltc893
consumea1398
vanishc1450
vapoura1475
obliterate1607
snuff1688
efface1843
melt1865
disappear1897
magic1906
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 152 The fragrancy of euery greene herbe yeeldeth such a sauour, as doth not a little obliterate and ouersway the sauour of the beast.
1848 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Palestine (1879) v. 99 Everything upon the lower levels of the Nile must gradually or rapidly be obliterated by its inundations.
a1855 J. Eagles Sketcher (1856) xv. 355 The snow, obliterating the very ground on which you stood sketching.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 195 New cones being thrown up at one time and old ones being obliterated at another.
1939 R. P. Warren Night Rider iv. 95 The snow had begun to obliterate the tracks of the wheels and the hoofprints of the horses.
1988 Independent 14 Sept. 2/6 Soldiers C and D..shouted the first part of an agreed warning before opening fire, Soldier E said. But the second part of the warning was obliterated because they opened fire when [he]..swung round.
c. transitive. Philately. To cancel or deface (a postage stamp) with a postmark in order to prevent further use.
ΚΠ
?1840 W. L. Maberly in H. Robinson Brit. Post Office (1948) xxii. 319 In case of more than one adhesive Stamp being attached to a letter, each stamp must be separately obliterated.
1932 S. Phillips Stamp Collecting xiii. 119 In some postmarks, the portion which obliterates the stamp contains the details of place and date.
1957 Stanley Gibbons's ‘Two Reigns’ Postage Stamp Catal. 57/1 Previous issues, with ‘anna’ surcharges obliterated.
1980 J. T. Whitney Collect Brit. Postmarks (ed. 2) 4 The term ‘postmark’ is used..to describe all kinds of mark applied in the processing of the mails..e.g. obliterating or cancelling the stamps..raising a surcharge, etc.
3. transitive. Pathology and Biology. To fill or close up (a vessel, cavity, or passage) with inflammatory or fibrous tissue; to cause to disappear by such a process. Usually in passive. Also intransitive with reflexive meaning.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [verb (transitive)] > obliterate
obliterate1671
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > cause disorders of internal organs [verb (transitive)] > obliterate
obliterate1671
1671 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 2226 The small vessels..being at last obliterated in the Parastatæ, are changed into a thick membrane.
1749 Philos. Trans. 1748 (Royal Soc.) 45 531 The internal Iliac Arteries..were obliterated and degenerated into Ligaments.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 417 Consequently a less extent of surface in the new parts is wanted to obliterate, or fill up this cavity, than what formerly filled it.
1828 D. le Marchant Rep. Claims to Barony of Gardner 164 The neck of the womb gradually obliterates.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 641/2 The umbilical vessels [are] obliterated at the navel after..pulmonic respiration is established.
1871 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom (ed. 4) xviii. §1287. 528 Ultimately the communication between the parent [ascidian] and the young individual becomes obliterated.
1949 H. Bailey Demonstr. Physical Signs Clin. Surg. (ed. 11) xxviii. 348 As already noted, an effusion can often be seen because the natural hollows on each side of the patella are obliterated.
1968 Brain 91 558 The cavum septi pellucidi is present and visible..at six months gestation..but begins to close in posteriorly so that the cavum Vergæ is usually obliterated at term.
1989 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 May 1210/2 Hysteroscopic examination..showed that the uterine cavity had not been obliterated.
4. transitive. To destroy completely; to devastate, demolish, or lay waste; to eradicate, annihilate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > annihilate or blot out of existence
dilghec897
defacec1386
annul1395
anientec1400
refer?c1400
extinct1484
annihil1490
delete1495
out-terma1500
perspoil1523
extaintc1540
extinguish1555
blot1561
wipe1564
to cut the throat of1565
annihilate1567
dissipatea1575
annihilate1586
nullify1609
nullize1615
expunge1628
nothing1637
null1647
extramund1654
be-nothing1674
erase1728
obliterate1798
simoom1821
to tear to shreds1837
snuff1852
mop1859
to take out1900
napoo1915
naught1958
1798 Brit. Critic 10 436 We hear of no instances of men whose brains have been obliterated, or tarnished by smoaking.
1814 C. Lamb Let. 9 Aug. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1978) III. 96 All that was countryfy'd in the Parks is all but obliterated.
1825 Ld. Cockburn Mem. iii. 174 A very curious edifice..was brutishly obliterated without one public murmur.
1883 W. Whitman Specimen Days in Specimen Days & Collect 79 The single graves left in the woods or by the road-side, (hundreds, thousands, obliterated).
1914 J. C. Cox in Antiquary (1915) 11 17/2 The University and Library [were] obliterated, and streets-full of houses destroyed by wanton and deliberate incendiaries.
1991 A. Nikiforuk Fourth Horseman v. 71 Smallpox obliterated these people so completely that the name Haiti..is one of the few reminders of their existence.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.c1600
v.1548