exterminate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exterminationnoun
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exterminatornoun
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nonexterminationnoun
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self-exterminationnoun
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exterminableadjective
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exterminativeadjective
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unexterminableadjective
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unexterminatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exterminatesimple
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exterminatessimple
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have exterminatedperfect
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has exterminatedperfect
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am exterminatingprogressive
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are exterminatingprogressive
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is exterminatingprogressive
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have been exterminatingperfect progressive
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has been exterminatingperfect progressive
Past
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exterminatedsimple
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had exterminatedperfect
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was exterminatingprogressive
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were exterminatingprogressive
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had been exterminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exterminate
1535–45; < Latin exterminātus, past participle of extermināre to extermine; see -ate 1
Explanation
If your house becomes infested with cockroaches, mice, or even ants, you might have to exterminate them. It is certainly not a pleasant process, but often quite necessary. To exterminate means "to kill off or destroy completely." Notice that it includes the word terminate which means, “to end.” It is usually used in reference to insects or rodents, but also unfortunately in reference to people or groups of people. It is just a coincidence that this verb shares a syllable with termite — a bug that often has to be exterminated before it eats through the wood of your home.
Vocabulary lists containing exterminate
"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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Persepolis
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Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
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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.
If people exterminate hives, native pollinators such as monarch butterflies, bumblebees, wasps and more can also be affected by the insecticides used.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
In 17th century Ireland, Robyn Goodfellowe is an apprentice hunter who follows her father when he’s called in to exterminate wolves.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
Mr. Biden will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver the keynote address of the Holocaust museum’s yearly event and remember the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe.
From New York Times • May 1, 2024
But I think there is a very different scenario that threatens humanity that will likely occur long before AI decides to exterminate us.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 19, 2024
He seemed vaguely puzzled and disappointed; he must be wondering, she thought, whether it had been worth it, just to exterminate two rats.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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.
