exterminator

[ ik-stur-muh-ney-ter ]

noun

a person or thing that exterminates.
a person or business establishment specializing in the elimination of vermin, insects, etc., from a building, apartment, etc., especially by the controlled application of toxic chemicals.

Origin of exterminator

From the Late Latin word exterminātor, dating back to 1605–15. See extermine, -ator

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

The change came to the chagrin of unionized gas workers who saw the energy transition as a job exterminator, but have since said they’re in talks with the city about new job outlets for pipefitters in the water industry.
The State of Gloria’s Top Priorities From 2021 | Lisa Halverstadt, Andrew Keatts and MacKenzie Elmer | January 12, 2022 | Voice of San Diego
Hire a licensed exterminator to inspect the house and provide appropriate treatment.
Is your house safe? Use this checklist to find out. | Jean Feingold | September 7, 2021 | Popular-Science
The Brooklyn-born son of an exterminator and a housewife, Schumer at 14 got a job running a mimeograph machine for a neighbor whose tutoring business helped students prepare for the SAT.
The Great Kibitzer: How Chuck Schumer Got the Senate Moving Again | Molly Ball | September 2, 2021 | Time
One person replied saying they called exterminators, convinced they were suffering from bed bugs.
Oak-mite bites: Cicadas may have left D.C. region an itchy gift | Ellie Silverman | July 30, 2021 | Washington Post
Ditto the kind of people who let garbage pile up undisposed of (and don't or can't call an exterminator).
What Does it Mean to Be Poor? | Megan McArdle | September 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

And a rubbing alcohol/lavender oil mix works only as a short-term defense to buy time until the exterminator comes.
Vigilante Bedbug Exterminators | Brian Ries | August 27, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
An exterminator, Dill took a job in Iraq for a company contracted to do pest control on military bases.
The War's Quiet Scandal | ProPublica | February 25, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Despite having the nickname “the exterminator,” DeLay did not try to exterminate wasteful spending when in power.
He's Back! | John Avlon | March 8, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
But neither supposition proved to be correct, for we presently picked up the “exterminator,” floating near us.
The Island Home | Richard Archer
Sometimes they are enemies who must be immolated to Mars the exterminator.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 5 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
When the master takes us to kill the snails in the box borders, I do not always scrupulously fulfil my office as an exterminator.
The Life of the Fly | J. Henri Fabre
The latter require the services of an exterminator or some one skilled in the use of hydrocyanic acid gas.
If You're Going to Live in the Country | Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley
exterminator (The), Montbars, chief of a set of filibusters in the seventeenth century.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1 | The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.

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