extinction
Americannoun
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extinctions
plural
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the act of extinguishing.
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the fact or condition of being extinguished or extinct.
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suppression; abolition; annihilation.
the extinction of an army.
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Biology. the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out.
the extinction of a species.
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Psychology. the reduction or loss of a conditioned response as a result of the absence or withdrawal of reinforcement.
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Astronomy. the diminution in the intensity of starlight caused by absorption as it passes through the earth's atmosphere or through interstellar dust.
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Crystallography, Optics. the darkness that results from rotation of a thin section to an angle extinction angle at which plane-polarized light is absorbed by the polarizer.
noun
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the act of making extinct or the state of being extinct
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the act of extinguishing or the state of being extinguished
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complete destruction; annihilation
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physics reduction of the intensity of radiation as a result of absorption or scattering by matter
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astronomy the dimming of light from a celestial body as it passes through an absorbing or scattering medium, such as the earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust
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psychol a process in which the frequency or intensity of a learned response is decreased as a result of reinforcement being withdrawn Compare habituation
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The fact of being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.
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See more at background extinction mass extinction
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A progressive decrease in the strength of a conditioned response, often resulting in its elimination, because of withdrawal of a specific stimulus.
Discover More
The fossil record tells us that 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived are now extinct.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of extinction
1375–1425; late Middle English extinccio ( u ) n < Latin ex ( s ) tinctiōn- (stem of ex ( s ) tinctiō ). See extinct, -ion
Explanation
Extinction is when all members of a particular group die. Most often, we use it to discuss animal species. Many fear that the tiger is headed for extinction because of development and hunting. People are still trying to figure out what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs: many think it was because of an asteroid. When people cut down rain forests, it can lead to the extinction of many species. Although extinction can be natural or unintended, the word can also mean forced, planned killing. Many people refer to the Holocaust as Hitler's attempt to bring about the extinction of the Jews. Languages also face extinction when no one speaks them anymore.
Vocabulary lists containing extinction
South America - Middle School
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South America - Introductory
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Life Science: Genetics and Evolution
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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.
See Examples For:
Until recently, babirusas were considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, external, but are due to be upgraded to "critically endangered", the zoo said.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The result is a medium at risk of extinction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Popular culture has often depicted the dodo as clumsy and unintelligent, sometimes suggesting that its extinction was almost unavoidable.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Though the rate of extinction in Australia has stayed stable, at around four per decade, the number of threatened species is still climbing quickly, and the deterioration of many is only gathering speed.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
And what the scorching, searing, freezing, poisoning weapons of non-life have failed to do may be accomplished to the end of its destruction and extinction by the tactics of survival gone sour.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
The Australian government's official extinctions list sits at 67, but researchers are confident at least 100 plant and animal species have been lost forever.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Labor took office in 2022, promising no new extinctions under its watch, and it has sought to make nature protection a defining feature of its second term.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Martindale typically studies ancient coral reefs and mass extinctions.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
Rising temperatures and shifting climate zones would force species out of some areas while opening new habitats elsewhere, triggering faster local extinctions and rapid colonization.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026
One of those extinctions, the Great Dying, killed off nine out of ten species on Earth.
From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
