the destruction of a particle and its antiparticle when they collide. The annihilation of an electron with a positron generates two or, very rarely, three photons of annihilation radiation. The annihilation of a nucleon with its antiparticle generates several pions
Examples of 'annihilation' in a sentence
annihilation
The fear of nuclear annihilation overshadowed all others.
Kovel, Joel Red Hunting in the Promised Land: Anticommunism and the Making of America (1994)
Nuclear annihilation or a grisly pandemic?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
For most of the postwar era, the threat of nuclear annihilation was a daily presence.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
If group selection were to work properly, war would mean the total annihilation of the enemy by the victorious group.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Most are under 30 and keener on iPads than nuclear annihilation.
The Sun (2011)
Synonyms of 'annihilation'
destruction, wiping out, abolition, extinction
More Synonyms of annihilation
(noun)
Political leaders fear the annihilation of their people.
Synonyms
destruction
Our objective was the destruction of the enemy forces.
wiping out
abolition
the abolition of slavery
extinction
Many species have been hunted to the point of extinction.
extinguishing
liquidation
rooting out
extermination
the extermination of thousands of innocent people
eradication
We are dedicated to the total eradiction of inequality.
erasure
the erasure of tradition and cultural identity in the bland global melting pot
obliteration
the obliteration of an entire city
nullification
extirpation (formal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of abolition
Definition
the act of doing away with something
the abolition of slavery
Synonyms
eradication,
ending,
end,
withdrawal,
destruction,
removal,
overturning,
wiping out,
overthrow,
voiding,
extinction,
repeal,
elimination,
cancellation,
suppression,
quashing,
termination,
stamping out,
subversion,
extermination,
annihilation,
blotting out,
repudiation,
erasure,
annulment,
obliteration,
revocation,
effacement,
nullification,
abrogation,
rescission,
extirpation (formal),
invalidation,
vitiation,
expunction
in the sense of eradication
We are dedicated to the total eradiction of inequality.
Synonyms
wiping out,
abolition,
destruction,
elimination,
removal,
extinction,
extermination,
annihilation,
erasure,
obliteration,
effacement,
extirpation (formal),
expunction
in the sense of erasure
Definition
an erasing
the erasure of tradition and cultural identity in the bland global melting pot