extinction
Americannoun
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extinctions
plural
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the act of extinguishing.
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the fact or condition of being extinguished or extinct.
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suppression; abolition; annihilation.
the extinction of an army.
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Biology. the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out.
the extinction of a species.
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Psychology. the reduction or loss of a conditioned response as a result of the absence or withdrawal of reinforcement.
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Astronomy. the diminution in the intensity of starlight caused by absorption as it passes through the earth's atmosphere or through interstellar dust.
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Crystallography, Optics. the darkness that results from rotation of a thin section to an angle extinction angle at which plane-polarized light is absorbed by the polarizer.
noun
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the act of making extinct or the state of being extinct
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the act of extinguishing or the state of being extinguished
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complete destruction; annihilation
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physics reduction of the intensity of radiation as a result of absorption or scattering by matter
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astronomy the dimming of light from a celestial body as it passes through an absorbing or scattering medium, such as the earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust
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psychol a process in which the frequency or intensity of a learned response is decreased as a result of reinforcement being withdrawn Compare habituation
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The fact of being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.
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See more at background extinction mass extinction
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A progressive decrease in the strength of a conditioned response, often resulting in its elimination, because of withdrawal of a specific stimulus.
Discover More
The fossil record tells us that 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived are now extinct.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of extinction
1375–1425; late Middle English extinccio ( u ) n < Latin ex ( s ) tinctiōn- (stem of ex ( s ) tinctiō ). See extinct, -ion
Explanation
Extinction is when all members of a particular group die. Most often, we use it to discuss animal species. Many fear that the tiger is headed for extinction because of development and hunting. People are still trying to figure out what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs: many think it was because of an asteroid. When people cut down rain forests, it can lead to the extinction of many species. Although extinction can be natural or unintended, the word can also mean forced, planned killing. Many people refer to the Holocaust as Hitler's attempt to bring about the extinction of the Jews. Languages also face extinction when no one speaks them anymore.
Vocabulary lists containing extinction
South America - Middle School
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South America - Introductory
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Life Science: Genetics and Evolution
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Until recently, babirusas were considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, external, but are due to be upgraded to "critically endangered", the zoo said.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Obama made clear that these were temporary emergency measures to save companies that faced extinction, and that the government would sell off its stock holdings as soon as that was practicable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
When Silescelida acristata lived, terrestrial ecosystems were still recovering from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which occurred about 252 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The chase for horse racing’s iconic Triple Crown is at risk of extinction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
But many of them are on the brink of extinction now as a result of industrial pollution and human overuse of oceanic resources.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
The Australian government's official extinctions list sits at 67, but researchers are confident at least 100 plant and animal species have been lost forever.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
It leads the world in mammal extinctions, and medals when it comes to the loss of other species classes too.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Climate change, species extinctions, and widespread pollution are all linked to the ways human societies have expanded and intensified their use of natural resources.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
Martindale typically studies ancient coral reefs and mass extinctions.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
There have been five mass species extinctions in Earth’s past—the most well known, of course, being that of the dinosaurs.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
