annihilable ( h silent)

[Eng. annt hil(ate); -able.] Capable of being annihilated. ăn-ni-hil-āte (h silent), v.t. [In Fr. ann i hiler; Sp. aniquilar; Port. anniquilar; Ital. annichilare. From Lat. annihilo: ad = to, and nihil = nothing.] 1. To reduce to non-existence in the literal sense of the word. "There is nothing more certain in nature than that it is impo ible for any body to be utterly annihi lated ; but that as it was the work of the omnipotency of God to make somewhat of nothing, so it requireth the like omnipotency to turn somewhat into nothing." -Lord Bacon: Nat . Hist., Cent. 1., § 100. 2. To reduce anything to non-existence by di olving it into its constituent elements, and thus destroying its distinctive character. Thus an army is annihilated if some soldiers belonging to it are slain, some taken prisoners, and the remainder so demoralised that they have scattered in all directions with no intention of again repairing to their standards. "He proposed, he said, first to annihilate the army of Vaudemont."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , chap. xxi. 2 3. To annul, to abolish, to destroy the force of. "There is no reason that any one commonwealth should annihilate that whereupon the whole world has agreed."- Hooker . 4. Fig .: To make one feel as if blotted out of existence, as by severe rebuke, the refusal of an important request, . (For ex. see ANNIHILATING as adj .)