EXTERMINATE

exterminate, kill off

(verb) kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many; “Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe”

uproot, eradicate, extirpate, root out, exterminate

(verb) destroy completely, as if down to the roots; “the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted”; “root out corruption”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

exterminate (third-person singular simple present exterminates, present participle exterminating, simple past and past participle exterminated)

(transitive) To kill all of (a population of pests or undesirables), usually intentionally.

(figuratively, transitive) To bring a definite end to; finish completely.

Synonyms

• (to kill all): annihilate, eradicate, extermine, uproot

• (to bring an end to): stamp out

• See also destroy

Source: Wiktionary


Ex*ter"mi*nate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Exterminated(); p. pr. & vb. n. Exterminating().] Etym: [L. exterminatus, p. p. of exterminare to abolish, destroy, drive out or away; ex out + terminus boundary, limit. See Term.]

1. To drive out or away; to expel. They deposed, exterminated, and deprived him of communion. Barrow.

2. To destroy utterly; to cut off; to extirpate; to annihilate; to root out; as, to exterminate a colony, a tribe, or a nation; to exterminate error or vice. To explode and exterminate rank atheism. Bentley.

3. (Math.)

Definition: To eliminate, as unknown quantities. [R.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

8 June 2025

EXECUTION

(noun) (law) the completion of a legal instrument (such as a contract or deed) by signing it (and perhaps sealing and delivering it) so that it becomes legally binding and enforceable


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest collection of coffee pots belongs to Robert Dahl (Germany) and consists of 27,390 coffee pots as of 2 November 2012, in Rövershagen, Germany.

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