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Originally, to exterminate something was to banish it or drive it away. And it is this meaning that can be found in the Latin origin of "exterminate." "Exterminate" comes from "exterminatus," the past participle of exterminare, meaning "to drive beyond the boundaries." The Latin word exterminare was formed from the prefix ex- ("out of" or "outside") and "terminus" ("boundary"). Not much more than a century after its introduction to English, "exterminate" came to denote destroying or utterly putting an end to something. And that's the use with which the word is usually employed today.
Examples of exterminate in a Sentence
Patrick Damp, CBS News, 10 June 2026
As the Jim Jacobses and John Deckers were shooting the last elk of Pennsylvania, their western counterparts were doing their part to exterminate the species continent-wide.
—Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
Here's how to combine the two for an ant-exterminating solution.
—Rabekah Henderson, The Spruce, 5 June 2026
Teller also warns that exterminating hives can harm native pollinators, such as bumblebees and wasps, through the insecticides used.
—Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for exterminate
Cite this Entry
“Exterminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exterminate. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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exterminate
verb
