— annihilative /euh nuy"euh lay'tiv, -euh leuh-/ , annihilatory /euh nuy"euh leuh tawr'ee, -tohr'ee/ , adj.
/euh nuy"euh layt'/ , v.t., annihilated, annihilating .
1. to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly: The heavy bombing almost annihilated the city.
2. to destroy the collective existence or main body of; wipe out: to annihilate an army.
3. to annul; make void: to annihilate a law.
4. to cancel the effect of; nullify.
5. to defeat completely; vanquish: Our basketball team annihilated the visiting team.
[ 1350-1400; ME adnichilat ( e ) destroyed annihilatus brought to nothing, annihilated (ptp. of annihilare ) (L an- AN- 2 + nihil nothing + -atus -ATE 1 ) ]
Syn. 1. ravage, devastate, desolate. 1, 2 . smash, obliterate, demolish.