Dictionary

exterminate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪkˈstɝ.mɪ.neɪt/ (US)
• /ɛkˈstɝ.mɪ.neɪt/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /ɛkˈstəː.mɪ.neɪt/ (UK)
• /ɪkˈstəː.mɪ.neɪt/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exterminātus, perfect passive participle of exterminō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ex- (“thoroughly”) + terminō (“to finish, close, end”), from terminus (“limit, end”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To kill or otherwise permanently eliminate all of (a population, often of pests or undesirables), usually intentionally.
   • We'll use poison to exterminate the rats.
   • The geth are a humanoid race of networked A.I.s. They were created by the quarians 300 years ago as tools of labor and war. When the geth showed signs of self-evolution, the quarians attempted to exterminate them. The geth won the resulting war. This example has led to legal, systematic repression of artificial intelligences in galactic society. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Geth Codex entry:
   • The natives everywhere eat their [sc. cuscuses] flesh, and as their motions are so slow, easily catch them by climbing; so that it is wonderful they have not been exterminated. It may be, however, that their dense woolly fur protects them from birds of prey, and the islands they live in are too thinly inhabited for man to be able to exterminate them. 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 142:
   • Somewhat unsurprisingly, unleashing the most powerful navy on the planet with carte blanche to exterminate slavers on sight saw a dramatic and sudden collapse in slaver numbers in the late 1840s and early 1850s. 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 10:12 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024:
2. (figuratively, transitive) To bring a definite end to; to finish completely.
   • The public school failed to exterminate truancy.

Forms

Deriveds

exterminism · exterminator · extermination · exterminatrix · exterminatory · exterminatable · exterminative

Relateds

termination · terminator · terminate

Synonyms

extermine (to kill all) · annihilate (to kill all) · uproot (to kill all) · stamp out (to bring an end to) · eradicate (to kill all)

Translations (58)

he חיסל (to kill all of a population) · da udrydde (to kill all of a population) · fi hävittää (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · lad eksterminar (to kill all of a population) · ru уничтожа́ть (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · yi פֿאַרטיליקן (to kill all of a population) · es exterminar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · it sterminare (to kill all of a population) · pt aniquilar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · mi haepapa (to kill all of a population) · mi whakamōtī (to kill all of a population) · ba ҡырыу (to kill all of a population) · th ทำลายล้าง (to kill all of a population) · el εξοντώνω (to kill all of a population) · es exterminar (to kill all of a population) · bg унищожавам (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · cs vyhladit (to kill all of a population) · th กวาดล้าง (to kill all of a population) · mi tipihauraro (to kill all of a population) · th ล้างบาง (to kill all of a population) · ckb لەناوبردن (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · cs vyhubit (to kill all of a population) · fa ریشهکن کردن (to kill all of a population) · yi פֿאַרטיליקן (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · uk виво́дити (to kill all of a population) · sh istrebiti (to kill all of a population) · mi hoepapa (to kill all of a population) · fi kitkeä (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · de ausrotten (to kill all of a population) · ro exterminare (to kill all of a population) · el επιτυγχάνω (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · ca exterminar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · fi hävittää (to kill all of a population) · ca exterminar (to kill all of a population) · mk истреби (to kill all of a population) · nl verdelgen (to kill all of a population) · nl beëindigen (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · nl uitroeien (to kill all of a population) · pt erradicar (to kill all of a population) · ru истребля́ть (to kill all of a population) · fi tappaa kokonaan (to kill all of a population) · tr kökünü kurutmak (to kill all of a population) · pt exterminar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · es despalillar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · ru уничто́жить (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · ru истреби́ть (to kill all of a population) · sh истребити (to kill all of a population) · pt exterminar (to kill all of a population) · fi juuria (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · uk вини́щувати (to kill all of a population) · bg изтребвам (to kill all of a population) · nl uitroeien (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · lad eksterminar (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · fr exterminer (to kill all of a population) · nl afmaken (to bring a definite end to, finish completely) · th ฆ่าล้าง (to kill all of a population) · el εξολοθρεύω (to kill all of a population) · cmn 滅絕 /灭绝 (to kill all of a population)