Skip to content

The word for today is…

obliterate (verb):


1a : to remove utterly from recognition or memory
b : to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of
c medical : to cause (something, such as a bodily part, a scar, or a duct conveying body fluid) to disappear or collapse
2 : to make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or wearing away
3: cancel, especially a postage stamp

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology :Obliterate has been preserved in our language for centuries, and that’s not nothing! The earliest evidence in our files traces obliterate back to the mid-16th century as a word for removing something from memory. Soon after, English speakers began to use it for the specific act of blotting out or obscuring anything written, and eventually its meaning was generalized to removing anything from existence. In the meantime, physicians began using obliterate for the surgical act of filling or closing up a vessel, cavity, or passage with tissue, which would then cause the bodily part to collapse or disappear. Today obliterate thrives in the English lexicon with the various senses it has acquired over the years, including its final stamp on the language: “to cancel (something, especially a postage stamp).”

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest