English▸ verb [with object] destroy utterly; wipe out:
the memory was so painful that he obliterated it from his mind.
▪ cause to become invisible or indistinct; blot out:
clouds were darkening, obliterating the sun.
– ORIGIN mid 16th century : from Latin obliterat- ‘struck out, erased’, from the verb obliterare, based on littera ‘letter, something written’.