exterminator

[ ik-stur-muh-ney-ter ]

/ ɪkˈstɜr məˌneɪ tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exterminator ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

exteriorly, exterminable, exterminate, extermination, exterminative, exterminator, exterminatory, extermine, extern, external, external acoustic pore

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for exterminator

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|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|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|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|DAILY BEAST

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.
Sometimes they are enemies who must be immolated to Mars the exterminator.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 5 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
The destroyer of enemies,” “the reducer of the disobedient,” “the exterminator of rebels,” “he whose sword is good.
Tradition|John Francis Arundell
At one of these avenues would enter the exterminator of my honor and my life.
Wieland; or The Transformation|Charles Brockden Brown
Exterminator and his rider were roundly applauded upon their return to the stand.
History of the Kentucky Derby, 1875-1921|John Lawrence O'Connor

Word Origin and History for exterminator

exterminator

c.1400, "an angel who expells (people from a country)," from Late Latin exterminator, from Latin exterminatus, past participle stem of exterminare (see exterminate). As a substance for ridding a place of rats, etc., by 1848. As a person whose job it is to do this, by 1938.

exterminator

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of exterminator

Examples from the Web for exterminator

Word Origin and History for exterminator

exterminator