obliterate
verb /əˈblɪtəreɪt/
/əˈblɪtəreɪt/
[often passive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they obliterate | /əˈblɪtəreɪt/ /əˈblɪtəreɪt/ |
| he / she / it obliterates | /əˈblɪtəreɪts/ /əˈblɪtəreɪts/ |
| past simple obliterated | /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪd/ /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪd/ |
| past participle obliterated | /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪd/ /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form obliterating | /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪŋ/ /əˈblɪtəreɪtɪŋ/ |
- obliterate something to remove all signs of something, either by destroying or covering it completely
- The building was completely obliterated by the bomb.
- The snow had obliterated their footprints.
- Everything that happened that night was obliterated from his memory.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- entirely
- totally
- …
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin obliterat- ‘struck out, erased’, from the verb obliterare, based on littera ‘letter, something written’.