释义 |
annihilableenUK
an·ni·hi·late A0316600 (ə-nī′ə-lāt′)v. an·ni·hi·lat·ed, an·ni·hi·lat·ing, an·ni·hi·lates v.tr.1. a. To destroy completely: The naval force was annihilated during the attack.b. To reduce to nonexistence: "He had not just to hide his hunger; so as not to go mad he had to annihilate it" (Philip Roth).c. To defeat decisively: annihilated the league champions in the playoffs.2. Physics To convert (a subatomic particle) to energy or high-energy particles by annihilation.v.intr.1. To be completely destructive.2. Physics To participate in annihilation. Used of particles and antiparticles. [Late Latin annihilāre, annihilāt- : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin nihil, nothing; see ne in Indo-European roots.] an·ni′hi·la·bil′i·ty (-lə-bĭl′ĭ-tē) n.an·ni′hi·la·ble (-lə-bəl) adj.an·ni′hi·la′tor n.Synonyms: annihilate, exterminate, extinguish, obliterate These verbs mean to destroy completely. Annihilate often implies that the destruction is so severe that nothing is left or salvagable: The cannon blasts annihilated the enemy's fortifications. Exterminate emphasizes the elimination of that which is considered undesirable, especially by killing: "The land had been rendered treeless, as though a tree were a parasite that needed to be exterminated, its stump uprooted and purged" (Madhusree Mukerjee). Extinguish is to put an end to something or to make something extinct: The teacher's criticism of my essay extinguished my enthusiasm for the project. To obliterate is to leave no trace of that which is destroyed: The virus obliterates all data on the hard drive of any computer it infects.ThesaurusSeeannihilate |