exterminate

verb

ex·ter·mi·nate ik-ˈstər-mə-ˌnāt

exterminated; exterminating

transitive verb

: to get rid of completely usually by killing off

exterminate termites and cockroaches

extermination

ik-ˌstər-mə-ˈnā-shən

noun

exterminator

ik-ˈstər-mə-ˌnā-tər

noun

Did you know?

Originally, to exterminate something was to banish it or drive it away. And it is this meaning that can be found in the Latin origin of "exterminate." "Exterminate" comes from "exterminatus," the past participle of exterminare, meaning "to drive beyond the boundaries." The Latin word exterminare was formed from the prefix ex- ("out of" or "outside") and "terminus" ("boundary"). Not much more than a century after its introduction to English, "exterminate" came to denote destroying or utterly putting an end to something. And that's the use with which the word is usually employed today.

Choose the Right Synonym for exterminate

exterminate, extirpate, eradicate, uproot mean to effect the destruction or abolition of something.

exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction by killing off all individuals.

exterminate cockroaches

extirpate implies extinction of a race, family, species, or sometimes an idea or doctrine by destruction or removal of its means of propagation.

many species have been extirpated from the area

eradicate implies the driving out or elimination of something that has established itself.

a campaign to eradicate illiteracy

uproot implies a forcible or violent removal and stresses displacement or dislodgment rather than immediate destruction.

the war uprooted thousands

Example Sentences

We made arrangements to have the termites exterminated. The invaders nearly exterminated the native people.

Recent Examples on the Web An employee hoping to exterminate flies sprayed a can of Off insect repellent over a container of cilantro sauce at a Hollywood eatery, one of four restaurants ordered shut by state inspectors last week.

Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 22 Nov. 2022 Margaret Sanger was a racist who wanted to sterilize and exterminate babies living in the United States.

Sam Kmack, The Arizona Republic, 12 Oct. 2022 Scientists say that there is a lot of potential in utilizing these viruses to help exterminate cancer cells.

Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 10 Oct. 2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin's government of trying to physically exterminate representatives of indigenous peoples.

Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 28 Sep. 2022 Over the next two decades, Army personnel partnered with the USFWS to trap and exterminate cowbirds, while the mortality of vireo chicks dropped from 90 percent to 10 percent.

Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2022 It’s about a boy trying to survive in the 1930s during Soviet efforts to exterminate the Ukrainian people through starvation and other policies.

Marc Bona, cleveland, 22 July 2022 The recordings, carried out in 1957, have Eichmann hailing his part in the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish people.

Abbas Al Lawati, CNN, 6 July 2022 China is not looking much better as growth has been hampered by its draconian efforts to exterminate the Coronavirus across the country under its zero-COVID policy.

Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 6 July 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exterminate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.