exterminate

  • 1Exterminate — Ex*ter mi*nate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Exterminated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Exterminating}.] [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 …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2exterminate — exterminate, extirpate, eradicate, uproot, deracinate, wipe are comparable when they mean to effect the destruction or abolition of something. Exterminate implies utter extinction; it therefore usually implies a killing off {efforts to… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 3exterminate — [ek stʉr′mə nāt΄, ikstʉr′mə nāt΄] vt. exterminated, exterminating [< L exterminatus, pp. of exterminare, lit., to drive beyond the boundaries, hence drive out, destroy < ex , out + terminus, boundary: see TERM1] to destroy or get rid of… …

    English World dictionary

  • 4exterminate — index abate (extinguish), abolish, annul, cancel, destroy (efface), dispatch (put to death) …

    Law dictionary

  • 5exterminate — (v.) 1540s, drive away, from L. exterminatus, pp. of exterminare drive out, expel, drive beyond boundaries, also, in L.L. destroy, from phrase ex termine beyond the boundary, from ex out of (see EX (Cf. ex )) + termine, abl. of termen boundary,… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 6exterminate — [v] kill abolish, annihilate, blot out*, decimate, destroy, do away with*, eliminate, eradicate, erase, execute, extinguish, extirpate, finish off, massacre, obliterate, put an end to*, rub out*, send to kingdom come*, slaughter, stamp out*, wipe …

    New thesaurus

  • 7exterminate — ► VERB ▪ destroy completely; eradicate. DERIVATIVES extermination noun exterminator noun exterminatory adjective. ORIGIN originally in the sense «drive out»: from Latin exterminare, from terminus boundary …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8exterminate — transitive verb ( nated; nating) Etymology: Latin exterminatus, past participle of exterminare, from ex + terminus boundary more at term Date: 1591 to get rid of completely usually by killing off < exterminate termites and cockroaches > •&#8230; …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 9exterminate — exterminable /ik sterr meuh neuh beuhl/, adj. extermination, n. /ik sterr meuh nayt /, v.t., exterminated, exterminating. to get rid of by destroying; destroy totally; extirpate: to exterminate an enemy; to exterminate insects. [1535 45; < L&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 10exterminate — verb /ikˈstɜrmɪˌneɪt/ a) To kill all of a population, usually deliberate and especially applied to pests. Well use poison to exterminate the rats. b) To bring a definite end to, finish completely. A rather strong word that implies that what has&#8230; …

    Wiktionary