extermine

E1X8T1E1R1M3I1N1E1

verb

To exterminate (someone or something); to destroy.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

verbextermine (third-person singular simple present extermines, present participle extermining, simple past and past participle extermined)

present singular third person extermines · participle present extermining · participle past extermined · past extermined

  1. nonstandardobsoletetransitiveTo exterminate (someone or something); to destroy.

    VVherever ſorrovv is, relief vvould be. / If you do ſorrovv at my grief in love, / By giving love your ſorrovv and my grief / VVere both extermined.

    c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]
    1 more example

    Without the instinct of self-preservation, which causes the sea-anemone to contract its tentacles, or the fish to dash into its hover, species would be extermined wholesale by involuntary suicide.

    1874, Charles Kingsley, “Superstition. A Lecture Delivered at the Royal Institution, London.”, in Health and Education, London: W. Isbister & Co. […], →OCLC, page 234

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Latinextermino
  2. Frenchexterminer
  3. Englishextermine

From French exterminer, from Latin extermino.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

extermine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermine

MLA

“extermine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermine. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extermine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermine.

Source: extermine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.