expunge
pronunciation
How to pronounce expunge in British English:
UK [ɪkˈspʌndʒ]
How to pronounce expunge in American English:
US [ɪkˈspʌndʒ]
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- Verb:
- remove by erasing or crossing out
Word Origin
- expunge
- expunge: see punctuation
- expunge (v.)
- c. 1600, from Latin expungere "prick out, blot out, mark (a name on a list) for deletion" by pricking dots above or below it, literally "prick out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + pungere "to prick, stab" (see pungent). According to OED, taken by early lexicographers in English to "denote actual obliteration by pricking;" it adds that the sense probably was influenced by sponge. Related: Expunged; expunging.
Example
- 1. He knew about several vacations I had taken with my family , where I lived , and other more personal items that I am now trying to expunge from my cyber file .
- 2. And all this despite the best efforts of regime hardliners seeking to expunge women from public and political realms .
- 3. In medieval europe jews were persecuted not only because they were not christians but also because killing them was a quick way to expunge debts .
- 4. Drake says that in the air force where he learned to capture electronic signals the fisa law " was drilled into us . " He recalls " if you accidentally intercepted u. s. persons there were special procedures to expunge it . "
- 5. But self-government was awarded to all regions in order to disguise the restoration of historic rights to catalans and basques , peoples with a deep sense of nation , culture and language that franco 's dictatorship sought to expunge .