To completely remove or erase something, especially from records or memory; to eliminate all traces of something. Often used in legal contexts for removing records or in academic contexts for eliminating errors.
From Latin 'expungere' meaning 'to prick out' or 'mark for deletion,' combining 'ex-' (out) and 'pungere' (to prick). Ancient Romans marked text for deletion by pricking dots under words, literally puncturing them out.
Think of 'expunge' as 'ex-punch' — you punch something out completely, like hole-punching it out of existence. Romans literally poked holes in text to delete it!
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