expunge

expunge
verb
ex·;punge ik-;sp;nj
expunged; expunging
Synonyms of expunge
transitive verb

1
: to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion
2
: to efface completely : destroy
3
: to eliminate from one's consciousness
expunge a memory
expunger noun


Did you know?
In medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, a series of dots was used to mark mistakes or to label material that should be deleted from a text, and those deletion dots—known as puncta delentia—can help you remember the history of expunge. Puncta comes from the Latin verb pungere, which can be translated as “to prick or sting” (and you can imagine that a scribe may have felt stung when their mistakes were so punctuated in a manuscript). Pungere is also an ancestor of expunge, as well as a parent of other dotted, pointed, or stinging terms such as punctuate, compunction, poignant, puncture, and pungent.

Synonyms
abolish
annihilate
black out
blot out
cancel
clean (up)
efface
eradicate
erase
exterminate
extirpate
liquidate
obliterate
root (out)
rub out
snuff (out)
stamp (out)
sweep (away)
wipe out
Examples of expunge in a Sentence
time and the weather have expunged any evidence that a thriving community once existed here
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Air is brought in through the snorkel and expunged through a vent in the mask upon exhaling.
—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
The ban on pronouns came amid Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's sweeping push to expunge all diversity, equity and inclusion policies from the military.
—Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025
At the town hall, Ernst said Medicaid cuts would expunge 1.4 million undocumented immigrants currently on the rolls so that the money could be used to shore up benefits for those who do qualify.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 2 June 2025
His military disciplinary record has now been expunged by the pardon.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 May 2025