Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- an act or instance of annihilating, or of completely destroying or defeating someone or something: the brutal annihilation of millions of people.
- the state of being annihilated; total destruction; extinction: fear of nuclear annihilation.
- Physics.
- Also called pair annihilation.the process in which a particle and antiparticle unite, annihilate each other, and produce one or more photons.Compare positronium.
- the conversion of rest mass into energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.
noun
- total destruction
- the act of annihilating
- physics 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
1630s, from Middle French annihilation (restored from Old French anichilacion, 14c.), or directly from Late Latin annihilationem (nominative annihilatio), noun of action from past participle stem of annihilare (see annihilate).