extirpation

American  

[ek-ster-pey-shuhn] / ˌɛk stərˈpeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. Biology, Ecology. (of a species) the state or condition of having become locally or regionally extinct.

   Forest elephants in Central Africa have experienced a 65 percent reduction in their populations, and extirpation is imminent if the poaching rate persists.

2. Medicine/Medical. the removal or excision of a tumor, organ, etc..

   Minor controllable bleeding was the only noted complication associated with lymph node extirpation in two of the thirty-nine performed procedures.

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Etymology

Origin of extirpation

First recorded in 1540–50, for an earlier sense; extirpat(e) ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

The Golden State’s gray wolves were hunted and trapped to extirpation a century ago.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2024

The tribe has watched salmon harvest decline by more than 80% in the past decades, and the unaddressed impacts of climate change are sending the salmon toward extirpation, Brimmer argued in the letter.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 22, 2024

Where species collapse does not occur, “climate change may result in large-scale mortality and population extirpation due to maladaptation of populations.”

From Scientific American • May 5, 2023

For decades, the penny has faced — and successfully fended off — calls for its extirpation.

From Washington Times • Apr. 20, 2023

Still we hear occasionally of the appointment of inquisitors, and from the career of Sprenger we know that their labors could be fruitfully directed to the extirpation of witchcraft.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles