obliterate: M-W's Word of the Day

****************************************************************
Do your modifiers dangle? Suffering from split infinitives?
Get instant help with our Concise Dictionary of English Usage.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 30 is:

obliterate \uh-BLIT-uh-rayt\ verb
1 a : to remove utterly from recognition or memory *b : to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of c : to cause to disappear (as a bodily part or a scar) or collapse (as a duct conveying body fluid)
2 : to make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or wearing away
3 : to deface (a postage or revenue stamp) especially with a set of ink lines so as to invalidate for reuse : cancel

Example sentence:
To obliterate all thoughts of the blizzard outside, Terry lit a scented candle, put on some Vivaldi, and sat in front of the fire with her spring catalogs.

Did you know?
Far from being removed from existence, "obliterate" is thriving in our language today with various senses that it has acquired over the years. True to its Latin source, "oblitteratus," it began in 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. Eventually (by the late 18th century), its meaning was generalized to removing anything from existence. In the meantime, another sense had developed. In the late 17th century, physicians began using "obliterate" for the surgical act of filling or closing up a vessel, cavity, or passage with tissue. Its final stamp on the English lexicon was delivered in the mid-19th century: "to cancel a postage or revenue stamp."

* Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

You Are Subscribed As: WORDFORTHEDAY.DROP@blogger.com
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2006 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102

*mf mwt 013006 WORDFORTHEDAY.DROP@blogger.com mf*