exterminate

American

[ik-stur-muh-neyt] / ɪkˈstɜr məˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

exterminated, exterminating

to get rid of by destroying; destroy totally; extirpate.

to exterminate an enemy; to exterminate insects.

Synonyms:

eliminate, annihilate, abolish, eradicate

exterminate British

/ ɪkˈstɜːmɪˌneɪt /

verb

(tr) to destroy (living things, esp pests or vermin) completely; annihilate; eliminate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

exterminable adjective
extermination noun
exterminative adjective
exterminator noun
nonextermination noun
self-extermination noun
unexterminable adjective
unexterminated adjective

Etymology

Origin of exterminate

1535–45; < Latin exterminātus, past participle of extermināre to extermine; -ate ¹

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.

Humans exterminated the passenger pigeon, the great auk and the Carolina parakeet.

From The Wall Street Journal

Along with the passenger pigeon we exterminated the great auk, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

From The Wall Street Journal

She appears to tell Epstein that "the British press is ready to exterminate me" and that the Palace is "not equipped to deal with all of this huge wave of negativity".

From BBC

In 17th century Ireland, Robyn Goodfellowe is an apprentice hunter who follows her father when he’s called in to exterminate wolves.

From Salon

Sheinbaum evoked the Holocaust, saying “many of my relatives ... were exterminated in concentration camps.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023