fumigate

verb

fu·mi·gate ˈfyü-mə-ˌgāt

fumigated; fumigating

transitive verb

: to apply smoke, vapor, or gas to especially for the purpose of disinfecting or of destroying pests

fumigation

ˌfyü-mə-ˈgā-shən

noun

fumigator

ˈfyü-mə-ˌgā-tər

noun

Example Sentences

All the hospital rooms had to be fumigated. We had to fumigate our apartment to get rid of the ants.

Recent Examples on the Web Exterminators were then called in to fumigate. —

Curbed, 9 June 2022 Benjamin Chapman, an author on the study who also leads the department of agricultural and human sciences at North Carolina State University, told The Washington Post that people don’t need to freak out and fumigate their spice drawers. —

Ali Francis, Bon Appétit, 18 Jan. 2023 Lice cannot survive without a host for more than a day, so there is no need to fumigate and risk exposure to dangerous chemicals. —

Bill Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2021 Although you may be tempted to rush out and fumigate your home, the majority of the arthropods found pose no danger to humans, and many escape our notice completely, the researchers say. —

Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2016 Surely global-health officials will be more inclined to fumigate the discourse with another odorless, colorless gas of pseudowords and digits—something in the lifeless spirit of COVID-19. —

Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 17 Aug. 2022 Instead of trying to fumigate away the dangers lurking in the soil each year, growers can throw out last year’s substrate and put in a new batch. —

Sam Deanstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022 Before sending containers on their way, workers at the port of departure sometimes fumigate cargo boxes with pesticides, especially if the container is loaded with food, animal feed, or timber. —

Chris Baraniuk, Wired, 16 July 2022 Environmental officials have started to fumigate the area. —

Chinedu Asadu, ajc, 24 Apr. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fumigate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin fūmigātus, past participle of fūmigāre "to subject to smoke, get rid of with smoke," from fūmus "smoke" + -igāre, causative suffix, probably generalized from rēmigāre "to use oars, row," verbal derivative of rēmig-, rēmex "oarsman, rower," from rēmus "oar" + -ig-, -ex, agent noun derivative from the base of agere "to be in motion, do, perform" — more at fume entry 1, agent