exterminate meaning

exterminate as a verb

1. kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many
   • Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe

   Synonyms: kill off

   Type of: kill

   Related forms: exterminator

2. destroy completely, as if down to the roots
   • the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted
   • root out corruption

   Synonyms: uproot, eradicate, extirpate, root out

   Type of: destroy

How to pronounce exterminate

exterminate is pronounced /ɪkˈstɝməneɪt/ in American English. It has 4 syllables, with the stress on the second syllable.

Words that rhyme with exterminate

• germinate
• determinate