exterminate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many
  2. verb destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exterminātus, perfect passive participle of exterminō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ex- (“thoroughly”) + terminō (“to finish, close, end”), from terminus (“limit, end”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

In classic literature

Synonyms

kill off

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