extirpate

[ek-ster-peyt, ik-stur-peyt]

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verb (used with object), ex·tir·pat·ed, ex·tir·pat·ing.

to remove or destroy totally; do away with; exterminate.

to pull up by or as if by the roots; root up: to extirpate an unwanted hair.

Origin of extirpate

1530–40; < Latin ex(s)tirpātus plucked up by the stem (past participle of ex(s)tirpāre), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + stirp- (stem of stirps) stem + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsex·tir·pa·tion, nounex·tir·pa·tive, adjectiveex·tir·pa·tor, nounun·ex·tir·pat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for extirpate

efface, demolish, excise, exterminate, expunge, remove, abolish, abate, erase, kill, eliminate, annihilate, extinguish, raze, eradicate, deracinate, exsect

Examples from the Web for extirpate

Historical Examples of extirpate

Every attempt to subdue or extirpate them, has proved abortive.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox
Many causes have combined to extirpate the shy and spirited fish.
Angling Sketches
Andrew Lang
The duty to extirpate and destroy it is admitted even by our doctors of divinity.
My Bondage and My Freedom
Frederick Douglass
I will extirpate that nest of vipersthat horde of remorseless banditti!
Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf
George W. M. Reynolds
The gentry want to extirpate us by means of poison, we will extirpate them with fire and sword.
The Day of Wrath
Maurus Jkai

British Dictionary definitions for extirpate

extirpate

verb (tr)

to remove or destroy completely

to pull up or out; uproot

to remove (an organ or part) surgically

Derived Formsextirpation, nounextirpative, adjectiveextirpator, noun

Word Origin for extirpate

C16: from Latin exstirpāre to root out, from stirps root, stock

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

Word Origin and History for extirpate

1530s, usually figurative, from Latin extirpatus/exstirpatus, past participle of extirpare/exstirpare (see extirpation). Related: Extirpated; extirpating.