extirpate

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

/ ˈɛk stərˌpeɪt, ɪkˈstɜr peɪt /

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.

Nearby words

extinctive, extine, extinguish, extinguishant, extinguisher, extirpate, extirpation, extn., extol, extorsion, extorsive

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 forms

ex·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

Examples from the Web for extirpated

Government activism on behalf of the common man was an unforgivable sin to be extirpated from the body politic.
The South Has Indeed Risen Again and It’s Called the Tea Party|Jack Schwartz|December 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The majority accordingly converted, the obstinate were extirpated.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1|Various
A vice like opium-smoking may be extirpated, but only after years of struggle.
Changing China|William Gascoyne-Cecil
The deer have not yet been extirpated, for often and again I saw their tracks in the snow along the banks of the railway.
A Boy's Voyage Round the World|The Son of Samuel Smiles

He has not extirpated his religious nature, nor crushed out, though he has suppressed, the craving for God in his breast.
The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians|G. G. Findlay
The tradition, he explained, of that ill-famed forest of Velletri, now extirpated.
Alone|Norman Douglas

British Dictionary definitions for extirpated

extirpate

/ (ˈɛkstəˌpeɪt) /

verb (tr)

to remove or destroy completely

to pull up or out; uproot

to remove (an organ or part) surgically

Derived Forms

extirpation, 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