Annihilate
verb
To completely destroy or eliminate.
The city was annihilated in the bombing.
Often appears as...
- annihilate the enemy
- annihilate the competition
verb
To defeat completely in a competition or fight.
Our team was annihilated in last night's game.
Often appears as...
- annihilate the opposition
- annihilate in a game
Usage tips
Colloquial
verb
In physics, to transform (a particle and its antiparticle) into radiant energy.
During the process, a particle and its antiparticle annihilate each other.
Often appears as...
- particle and antiparticle annihilate
- annihilate into energy
Usage tips
Neutral
Academic
verb
To completely destroy or eliminate.
The city was annihilated in the bombing.
Often appears as...
- annihilate the enemy
- annihilate the competition
verb
To defeat completely in a competition or fight.
Our team was annihilated in last night's game.
Often appears as...
- annihilate the opposition
- annihilate in a game
Usage tips
Colloquial
verb
In physics, to transform (a particle and its antiparticle) into radiant energy.
During the process, a particle and its antiparticle annihilate each other.
Often appears as...
- particle and antiparticle annihilate
- annihilate into energy
Usage tips
Neutral
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Total Destruction
Used to emphasize the complete destruction of something, often large-scale or with intensity.
The hurricane annihilated the coastal settlements.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
Sometimes used figuratively to describe a devastating defeat or to exaggerate a situation.
The new company policy annihilated our team morale.
Pro Tip 3/3Hyperbolic
Be cautious as 'annihilate' can sound hyperbolic or overly dramatic in everyday conversation.
Claiming the quiz annihilated all hopes for passing was an exaggeration.
Pro Tip 1/3Total Destruction
Used to emphasize the complete destruction of something, often large-scale or with intensity.
The hurricane annihilated the coastal settlements.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
Sometimes used figuratively to describe a devastating defeat or to exaggerate a situation.
The new company policy annihilated our team morale.
Pro Tip 3/3Hyperbolic
Be cautious as 'annihilate' can sound hyperbolic or overly dramatic in everyday conversation.
Claiming the quiz annihilated all hopes for passing was an exaggeration.
Pro Tip 1/3Total Destruction
Used to emphasize the complete destruction of something, often large-scale or with intensity.
The hurricane annihilated the coastal settlements.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
Sometimes used figuratively to describe a devastating defeat or to exaggerate a situation.
The new company policy annihilated our team morale.
Pro Tip 3/3Hyperbolic
Be cautious as 'annihilate' can sound hyperbolic or overly dramatic in everyday conversation.
Claiming the quiz annihilated all hopes for passing was an exaggeration.
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Video examples
Rescuing the UK's Rarest...
pheasants and of course again while cats were destroyed along with a lot of other predatory mammals so what you then saw was what was left of the wildcats that had been annihilated were hanging on to western scotland that's where the last wild cats were left and in fact they probably would have gone extinct too were not for the first world war
Video examples
Ben Cameron: The true...
while today's playwrights and directors work with youth gangs to find alternate channels to violence and more and more and more. And indeed, I think, rather than being annihilated, the performing arts are poised on the brink of a time when we will be more important than we have ever been.
Video examples
What’s the smallest...
associated with the electron, muon, and tau. All these particles also have antimatter versions, which have the opposite charge but are otherwise identical. Matter and antimatter particles are produced in pairs in high-energy collisions, and they annihilate each other when they meet.
Video examples
The colossal consequences...
and drastically cooling the atmosphere below. The resulting volcanic winter, along with other effects such as acid rain, can effect multiple continents, disrupting natural cycles and annihilating the plant life on which other organisms, including humans, depend.
Video examples
Can a black hole be...
It would then annihilate another oppositely charged particle within the event horizon of the black hole, reducing the black hole’s mass. Meanwhile, to an outside observer, it would look like the black hole had emitted the escaped particle.
Video examples
Dangerous memes PIPE Dan...
There's plenty of room for moral passion once we've got the facts and can figure out the best thing to do. And, as with germs, the trick is not to try to annihilate them. You will never annihilate the germs.
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
of the Soviet underground. I expected their work to be dissident and political. But the radicalism in their work actually lay in reinserting humanity into a society that was annihilating humanity itself,
Video examples
Why we shouldn’t fear...
annihilating human life as we know it is more likely than AI turning evil is and ruin put it working to prevent the AI from turning evil is like disrupting the space program to prevent overpopulation
Video examples
Love -- you're doing it...
which has fostered individual rights. And finally, a process of rationalization of economic production and of trade liberalization. These three intertwined processes have completely annihilated
Video examples
Part 4: A Space to Talk...
nightmare as a kid that everyone was just going to come and torch our house that sense of fear of being destroyed annihilated is with everybody all the time
Video examples
Rescuing the UK's Rarest...
pheasants and of course again while cats were destroyed along with a lot of other predatory mammals so what you then saw was what was left of the wildcats that had been annihilated were hanging on to western scotland that's where the last wild cats were left and in fact they probably would have gone extinct too were not for the first world war
Video examples
Ben Cameron: The true...
while today's playwrights and directors work with youth gangs to find alternate channels to violence and more and more and more. And indeed, I think, rather than being annihilated, the performing arts are poised on the brink of a time when we will be more important than we have ever been.
Video examples
What’s the smallest...
associated with the electron, muon, and tau. All these particles also have antimatter versions, which have the opposite charge but are otherwise identical. Matter and antimatter particles are produced in pairs in high-energy collisions, and they annihilate each other when they meet.
Video examples
The colossal consequences...
and drastically cooling the atmosphere below. The resulting volcanic winter, along with other effects such as acid rain, can effect multiple continents, disrupting natural cycles and annihilating the plant life on which other organisms, including humans, depend.
Video examples
Can a black hole be...
It would then annihilate another oppositely charged particle within the event horizon of the black hole, reducing the black hole’s mass. Meanwhile, to an outside observer, it would look like the black hole had emitted the escaped particle.
Video examples
Dangerous memes PIPE Dan...
There's plenty of room for moral passion once we've got the facts and can figure out the best thing to do. And, as with germs, the trick is not to try to annihilate them. You will never annihilate the germs.
Video examples
How the worst moments in...
of the Soviet underground. I expected their work to be dissident and political. But the radicalism in their work actually lay in reinserting humanity into a society that was annihilating humanity itself,
Video examples
Why we shouldn’t fear...
annihilating human life as we know it is more likely than AI turning evil is and ruin put it working to prevent the AI from turning evil is like disrupting the space program to prevent overpopulation
Video examples
Love -- you're doing it...
which has fostered individual rights. And finally, a process of rationalization of economic production and of trade liberalization. These three intertwined processes have completely annihilated
Video examples
Part 4: A Space to Talk...
nightmare as a kid that everyone was just going to come and torch our house that sense of fear of being destroyed annihilated is with everybody all the time
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Steven Stucky
American Composer
One kind of artist is always striving to annihilate the past, to make the world anew in each new work, and so to triumph over the dead weight of routine. I am the other kind... who only sees his way forward by standing on the shoulders of those who have already cleared the path ahead.
Quote examples
Frances Wright
Scottish Writer
The existing principle of selfish interest and competition has been carried to its extreme point; and, in its progress, has isolated the heart of man, blunted the edge of his finest sensibilities, and annihilated all his most generous impulses and sympathies.
Quote examples
Emmanuel Macron
French Politician
France was given up to fire and bloodshed, she experienced famine, she experienced the worst of things, she was nearly chopped up in pieces forever because of the decision... to exclude, to brand one party as guilty and annihilate them.
Quote examples
Camille Perri
American Author
You know that secret novel you've been working on? The one that's really about you and your friends and your psycho ex-girlfriend? The one that, if discovered, would socially annihilate you for eternity? Yeah, go ahead and burn it.
Quote examples
Laurie Holden
American Actress
I think there's a collective consciousness around the world that there are things beyond our control that have the power to annihilate us, as a species, and it's all rather frightening.
Quote examples
Claude Adrien Helvetius
French Philosopher
By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.
Quote examples
Lee Haney
American Athlete
Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate. The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them.
Quote examples
Sigmar Gabriel
German Politician
What could become a danger to world peace is Iran's nuclear program and the country's open threat to annihilate Israel.
Quote examples
Oren Etzioni
American Businessman
It's much more likely that an asteroid will strike the Earth and annihilate life as we know it than AI will turn evil.
Quote examples
Patrisse Cullors
American Activist
#BlackLivesMatter is about black pride and black power and standing up against a world that tries to annihilate us.
Quote examples
Steven Stucky
American Composer
One kind of artist is always striving to annihilate the past, to make the world anew in each new work, and so to triumph over the dead weight of routine. I am the other kind... who only sees his way forward by standing on the shoulders of those who have already cleared the path ahead.
Quote examples
Frances Wright
Scottish Writer
The existing principle of selfish interest and competition has been carried to its extreme point; and, in its progress, has isolated the heart of man, blunted the edge of his finest sensibilities, and annihilated all his most generous impulses and sympathies.
Quote examples
Emmanuel Macron
French Politician
France was given up to fire and bloodshed, she experienced famine, she experienced the worst of things, she was nearly chopped up in pieces forever because of the decision... to exclude, to brand one party as guilty and annihilate them.
Quote examples
Camille Perri
American Author
You know that secret novel you've been working on? The one that's really about you and your friends and your psycho ex-girlfriend? The one that, if discovered, would socially annihilate you for eternity? Yeah, go ahead and burn it.
Quote examples
Laurie Holden
American Actress
I think there's a collective consciousness around the world that there are things beyond our control that have the power to annihilate us, as a species, and it's all rather frightening.
Quote examples
Claude Adrien Helvetius
French Philosopher
By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.
Quote examples
Lee Haney
American Athlete
Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate. The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them.
Quote examples
Sigmar Gabriel
German Politician
What could become a danger to world peace is Iran's nuclear program and the country's open threat to annihilate Israel.
Quote examples
Oren Etzioni
American Businessman
It's much more likely that an asteroid will strike the Earth and annihilate life as we know it than AI will turn evil.
Quote examples
Patrisse Cullors
American Activist
#BlackLivesMatter is about black pride and black power and standing up against a world that tries to annihilate us.
Example 1 of 10
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