exterminate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- exterminable adjective
- extermination noun
- exterminative adjective
- exterminator noun
- nonextermination noun
- self-extermination noun
- unexterminable adjective
- unexterminated adjective
Etymology
Origin of exterminate
1535–45; < Latin exterminātus, past participle of extermināre to extermine; -ate 1
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.
In 17th century Ireland, Robyn Goodfellowe is an apprentice hunter who follows her father when he’s called in to exterminate wolves.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
Mr. Biden will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver the keynote address of the Holocaust museum’s yearly event and remember the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe.
From New York Times • May 1, 2024
Lucie Wütrich argues that with the world facing a "bio-diversity and climate change crisis, we can't afford to just exterminate things we don't like".
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2023
But he personally observed the protest and confirmed there was no direct call to exterminate Jews.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 2, 2023
He seemed vaguely puzzled and disappointed; he must be wondering, she thought, whether it had been worth it, just to exterminate two rats.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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.
