obliterate

Verb

obliterate (third-person singular simple present obliterates, present participle obliterating, simple past and past participle obliterated)

1. (transitive) To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
   • [H]e [Pope Gregory I] deſigned to obliterate and extinguiſh the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors.1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for...
   • This opinion ſeemeth to me, to leave very little or no place for the Chriſtian Religion. For […] It obliterateth the notion of Gods Holineſs, vvhich to be no Holineſs, but a common or indifferent thing.1675, Richard Baxter, “[The First Book.] The First Part: […]. Section XVIII. A Confutation of Dr. Twisse’s Digr. 5. l. 2. Sect. 1. Vind. Grat.”, in Richard Baxter’s Catholick Theologie: […], London...

   Synonyms:

   bedash, do away with, eradicate, extirpate, raze, uproot, destroy, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize

2. (transitive) To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure.
   • The rainclouds obliterated the sun as they swept across the sky.
   • Likevviſe the fragrancy of euery greene herbe yeeldeth ſuch a ſauour, as doth not a little obliterate and ouerſvvay the ſauour of the beaſt: […]1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “The English Bloudhounde”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 152
3. (also, figuratively, transitive) To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete.
   • The Senate approuing all that vvas done, decreed that his name ſhould bee obliterated out of all monuments in Rome, and neuer any Antoninus (a name before very gratious) ſhould rule againe their Empire: ſo odious vvas the remembrance of this Image of Ignominy.1611, Iohn Speed [i.e., John Speed], “Antoninus Heliogabalus”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of yͤ Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. […], London: […] William Hall and John...
   • [A]s one foule blot or daſh vvith a pen defaceth a vvhole vvriting, ſo one foule and enormous crime daſheth and obliterateth the faireſt copy of a vertuous life.1636, Daniel Featley, “The Danger of Relapse. The LVI Sermon.”, in Clavis Mystica: A Key Opening Divers Difficult and Mysterious Texts of Holy Scripture; […], London: […] R[obert] Y[oung] for Nicolas...
4. (transitive, chiefly passive voice) To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue).
   • In the developing embryo the foregut is surrounded by a group of vascular structures of bilateral distribution connected with the branchial arches. Portions of these arches are obliterated to form the normally described aorta and great vessels. The ultimate persistence of only one main vascular...1959 September, F. Ronald Edwards, “Vascular Compression of the Trachea and Oesophagus”, in N[orman] R[upert] Barrett, J[ohn] G[uyett] Scadding, editors, Thorax, volume XIV, number 3, London: British...
   • The pleural sac was obliterated by firm fibrous adhesions over the right upper lobe.1959 December, R. H. Elphinstone, R. G. Spector, “Sarcoma of the Pulmonary Artery”, in N[orman] R[upert] Barrett, J[ohn] G[uyett] Scadding, editors, Thorax, volume XIV, number 4, London: British...
5. (transitive) To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
6. (intransitive) To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
7. (intransitive) Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction.
   • distal pulses obliterate until perfusion is restored

Adjective

UK/əˈblɪtəɹət/US/əˈblɪtəɹət/

obliterate (comparative more obliterate, superlative most obliterate)

1. (obsolete, except poetic) Completely destroyed or erased; effaced, obliterated.
   • [G]o to the herald's office, […] and thou shalt find in that office as many records of attainted families, and escheated families, and impoverished and forgotten, and obliterate families, as of families newly erected and presently celebrated.1628 January 4 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “Sermon V. Preached at St. Paul’s on Christmas-Day, 1627.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume I...
   • It may maintain a bright conjecture, againſt a ruſty Truth: a legible poſſeſſion, againſt an obliterate Claime: […]1647, Theodore de la Guard [pseudonym; Nathaniel Ward], The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […], London: […] J[ohn] D[ever] & R[obert] I[bbitson] for Stephen Bowtell, […], →OCLC, page 32
2. (obsolete, rare) Of markings on an insect: difficult to distinguish from the background; faint, indistinct.