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.
There are also conflicting views of the cost of exterminating so many owls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2025
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
"They are called weeds by gardeners, but they have value, and we should be celebrating the dandelions not exterminating them," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2023
He cited a persistence instilled in him by his father, who ran an exterminating company and died last year, as a motivating factor.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2022
Compared to its brethren around the world, Clovis society, with its putative focus on massive, exterminating hunts, would have been an anomaly.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
