exterminate
verb (used with object)
to get rid of by destroying; destroy totally; extirpate.
exterminating
-
present participleof exterminate.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
Liias — who is a self-proclaimed pollinator champion — recently sponsored Senate Bill 5972 to restrict neonicotinoids, or a particularly harmful class of pesticides that kill indiscriminately, exterminating not only pests but also countless pollinators.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
In some cases, the cost of exterminating the pests exceeds the value of the paintings.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2023
“Why did he do that? Because the culture was exterminating too. He just went along with what the outer world was telling him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
Managers could consider adding artificial salt licks to places that lack them, for example, or exterminating goats in areas where they were introduced.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 17, 2022
Kuru was on its way to exterminating New Guinea’s Foré tribe of 20,000 people, until the establishment of Australian government control around 1959 ended cannibalism and thereby the transmission of kuru.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
