exterminate — ozdic

Definitions

verb

1

To kill or otherwise permanently eliminate all of (a population 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.

2

To bring a definite end to; to finish completely.

The public school failed to exterminate truancy.

Collocations

5

ADJ.

agricultural, entire, harmful, internal, necessary, quick, systematic

VERB + EXTERMINATE

attempt, decided, don't, poison, promised, tried, use, want

EXTERMINATE + NOUN

aliens, cockroaches, dalek, enemies, human, humans, insects, mankind

PREP.

on

ADV.

also

Thesaurus

Synonyms

verb — destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

6

01

We'll use poison to exterminate the rats.

Wiktionary

02

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 exte

Wiktionary

03

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 e

Wiktionary

04

Their job is to exterminate rats and mice.

Tatoeba · #305211

05

Insecticides are agricultural chemicals that exterminate insects harmful to plants.

Tatoeba · #506735

06

There's a huge spider in the room! Quick, exterminate it!

Tatoeba · #890197

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, exterminate is marked as figuratively. Watch for register when choosing this word.