from the face of the earth

from the face of the earth

1. Of something that disappears, completely or without a trace. Jen was the biggest social butterfly I knew, but then one day it seemed like she just disappeared from the face of the earth.
2. Of something that is eradicated, completely or with nothing remaining. I've vowed to wipe these terrorist scumbags from the face of the earth.
See also: earth, face, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • off the face of the earth
  • stay on top of
  • stay on top of (someone or something)
  • keep on top of (someone or something)
  • be on top of (something)
  • be/get on top of something
  • get on top of (something)
  • social butterfly
  • trace out
  • disappear off the face of the earth
References in classic literature
The man who wrote that word upon the wall disappeared from the midst of the generations of man many centuries ago; the word, in its turn, has been effaced from the wall of the church; the church will, perhaps, itself soon disappear from the face of the earth.
Such was the man who looked after the anchors of a less than five-hundred-ton barque, my first command, now gone from the face of the earth, but sure of a tenderly remembered existence as long as I live.
See here," continued he, drawing forth a small bottle and holding it before their eyes, "in this bottle I hold the small-pox, safely corked up; I have but to draw the cork, and let loose the pestilence, to sweep man, woman, and child from the face of the earth."
When a species has once disappeared from the face of the earth, we have reason to believe that the same identical form never reappears.
As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.
'Earlier, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto rendered his life for democratic stability in the country,' he said, adding that the entire Bhutto family was erased from the face of the earth because they stood for the poor people in a democratic system.
I will wipe you from the face of the earth. I'm telling you,' Duterte said in his speech in Ozamiz City.
But the Mediterranean might be gone from the face of the Earth 50 million years from now, on account of continental drift (the gradual movement of the Earth's continents).
Iran, "openly calls, daily, for the destruction, the elimination of Israel from the face of the earth and practices unmitigated aggression against us," Netanyahu told reporters during a visit to Cyprus.
Do they have to wipe all trace of the Hutch family from the face of the Earth? Let's just hope no more innocent parties are harmed in this despicable quarrel.
Another message was posted- "If you continue killing our children, Slavs, know that we will erase you from the face of the earth ...!" The call on Albanians to massively participate in the protests that will be held on 1 March.
Most hardcore fans must be puffers remembering the halcyon days before they were banished from the face of the earth.
AN SNP election candidate sparked fury when he said he wanted to "obliterate Labour from the face of the earth".
Krieger (president, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation) presents 16 essays exploring the problems and prospects of the complete abolition of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth. Although united in their hopes for abolition, contributors approach the topics from a variety of perspectives.
The laying a country desolate with fire and sword, declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling."