extricate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
extricates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
extricated,
past participle, past
-
extricating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
extricatesimple
-
extricatessimple
-
have extricatedperfect
-
has extricatedperfect
-
am extricatingprogressive
-
are extricatingprogressive
-
is extricatingprogressive
-
have been extricatingperfect progressive
-
has been extricatingperfect progressive
Past
-
extricatedsimple
-
had extricatedperfect
-
was extricatingprogressive
-
were extricatingprogressive
-
had been extricatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of extricate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin extricātus (past participle of extricāre ), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + tric(ae) “perplexities” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
If you need to be untangled, set free or otherwise released from something or someone, you need to be extricated. Extricate is a mixture of the prefix ex, which means "out" or "out of," and the Latin word tricae, which means "hindrances." So to extricate is to get out of what's hindering you. But it's not always so simple. You just try and extricate yourself from the loving death grip of a grandma who hasn't seen you in awhile!
Vocabulary lists containing extricate
Ender's Game
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Beyond Vietnam" (1967)
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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.
See Examples For:
Firefighters worked for nearly two hours to extricate the driver, using hydraulic tools to cut into the trapped flatbed’s cab.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
It would be nice to see them begin to extricate the church from the federal leviathan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Meanwhile, despite these woes, I was able to extricate some March Madness picks from the collective wisdom, or otherwise, of the major AI platforms.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
Rocket responded with its “Bully Shield” program, which pays penalties and court fees for any brokers who want to extricate themselves from UWM External link’s contract.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
Holly managed to extricate her fingers a nanosecond before they snapped like brittle spaghetti.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
“The disposal of the Russian hygiene entity extricates the company from a business that cast a shadow over its first-quarter results,” the analyst said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Jeeves extricates Bertie from every one of these entanglements, and thankfully so, because every fiancée begins their relationship with the determination to toss Jeeves out on his ear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
McManus throws ladders, extricates people from car crashes, breaks down doors and conducts search-and-rescue operations.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
When Charlotte extricates herself from a grotesque and all-too-familiar #MeToo encounter, she's then criticized by Leila, one of the only people in her life Charlotte trusts, for not making a bigger scene.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2018
He regards himself as greatly enriched when he assists the oppressed, extricates the perplexed and involved, or reconciles the estranged.
From Erasmus and the Age of Reformation by Johan Huizinga
This ascent cannot be extricated from a geopolitical context that has seen Europe battling for relevance while other major powers jostle for supremacy in many areas, notably AI.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
But it wasn’t until last year that GM extricated itself—for the most part—from India.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2025
Their bodies were extricated not by trained rescuers, but by locals who used rudimentary equipment.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2025
The man was extricated by Long Beach police, and he along with the driver were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to the upper body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
By the time she rushed into the kitchen, the cook had extricated himself, had both hands under the cold water faucet, and was squealing with rage.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
One video shows him under the rubble, carefully extricating the body of an infant from around the body of another small child, who is alive.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2025
He lets the film pause and breathe, believably extricating Pansy from her pain for just a moment to give her a taste of what reprieve and lightness might look like.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2025
Zwirner would not disclose the financial terms of extricating the gallery from that project.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
“While our technical rescue teams worked on extricating the victim in the car, firefighter paramedics got inside and initiated care,” firefighters said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2022
He tried miserably to recall some means of extricating them both from their devastating embarrassment.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
