Meanings
present singular third person expunges · participle present expunging · participle past expunged · past expunged
- transitiveTo erase or strike out.
The gentleman from Texas [Mr. CRAIN] asks unanimous consent to expunge from the RECORD and from the Journal the motion to excuse the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. ALLEN] […]
1893, Congressional Record, page 1991 - transitiveTo eliminate completely; to annihilate.
- transitivecomputingTo delete permanently (e-mail etc.) that was previously marked for deletion but still stored.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbremove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Proto-Indo-European*pewǵ-
- Proto-Italic*pungō
- Latinpungō
- Latinexpungere
- Englishexpunge
Learned borrowing from Latin expungere.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian задрасквам, премахвам
- задрасквам (zadraskvam)to erase or strike out
- премахвам (premahvam)to eliminate
Dutch uitwissen, verwijderen
- uitwissento erase or strike out
- verwijderento eliminate
Esperanto forviŝi, elimini
- forviŝito erase or strike out
- eliminito eliminate
Finnish poistaa, hävittää
- poistaato erase or strike out
- hävittääto eliminate
- tuhotato eliminate
French effacer, éliminer
- effacerto erase or strike out
- éliminerto eliminate
German ausstreichen, durchstreichen
- ausstreichento erase or strike out
- durchstreichento erase or strike out
- auslöschento eliminate
Hungarian töröl, kitöröl
- törölto erase or strike out
- kitörölto erase or strike out
- kihúzto erase or strike out
- megsemmisítto eliminate
Italian espungere
- espungereto erase or strike out
Latin expungō
- expungōto erase or strike out
Portuguese expungir
- expungirto eliminate
Russian вычёркивать, ликвидировать
- вычёркивать (vyčórkivatʹ)to erase or strike out
- ликвидировать (likvidirovatʹ)to eliminate
Spanish borrar, expurgar
- borrarto erase or strike out
- expurgarto erase or strike out
- limpiarto erase or strike out
- eliminarto erase or strike out
- expungerto erase or strike out
Swedish utstryka, utplåna
- utstrykato erase or strike out
- utplånato eliminate
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with expunge
All rhymes →Cite this entry
expunge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expunge
“expunge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expunge. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expunge,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expunge.
Source: expunge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.