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In medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, a series of dots was used to mark mistakes or to label material that should be deleted from a text, and those deletion dots can help you remember the history of expunge. They were known as puncta delentia. The puncta part of the name derives from the Latin verb pungere, which can be translated as "to prick or sting" (and you can imagine that a scribe may have felt stung when their mistakes were so punctuated in a manuscript). Pungere is also an ancestor of expunge, as well as a parent of other dotted, pointed, or stinging terms such as punctuate, compunction, poignant, puncture, and pungent.
Synonyms
Examples of expunge in a Sentence
Alonzo Martinez, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
The pardon expunges those convictions — and does so just before the younger Biden was to face sentencing in both cases later this month.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
Have you been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime, had an adjudication withheld or had a matter sealed or expunged?
—Mike Gottlieb, Sun Sentinel, 20 Sep. 2024
Immediately, Barkley set about expunging that from his mind.
—Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expunge 
Dictionary Entries Near expunge
Cite this Entry
“Expunge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expunge. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
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expunge
transitive verb
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