de-extinct
Americanverb (used with object)
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.
So we should be wary of the shiny offer from Texas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences, which announced in July that it intends to “de-extinct” the moa, a gigantic wingless bird that was killed off about 600 years ago.
From Slate
“Call it a de-extinct dire wolf that abides by the definition that the scientific community agreed on 10 years ago. Call it Colossal’s dire wolf. Call it a gray wolf with 20 edits that looks and acts like a dire wolf and is a functional replacement for a dire wolf,” Shapiro said.
From Los Angeles Times
“I’d hate to have to be trying to de-extinct wolves once they go extinct, right?”
From Los Angeles Times
So, did Colossal actually de-extinct a long lost species?
From Slate
It announced that it used "deft genetic engineering and ancient DNA "to breed three dire wolf puppies and to "de-extinct" the species.
From BBC
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.