as in destruction
the state or fact of being rendered nonexistent, physically unsound, or useless
the virtual extermination of the native tribes by the colonizers
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Recent Examples of extermination
Besides extermination, these companies also may be able to assist with locating and sealing entry points or making other recommendations for exclusion.
—
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 1 Oct. 2025
An extermination of the brutes in the Middle East, presided over by Obama’s successors, has been followed by a swift cancellation by Trumpian decree of the postracial age.
—Pankaj Mishra, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
But the spread of agriculture and extermination of prairie dogs have sharply reduced the owl’s western populations.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The four women, three of whom were Jewish, were all inmates of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ most notorious extermination camp outside the southern Polish city of Oświęcim.
—Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
Szames’ likeness and story are part of the RUTH exhibition, which opened in January and includes life-size cutouts and keepsakes of San Diego County survivors of the Nazi extermination campaign against European Jews.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
Yet this divide-and-conquer approach, combined with the relentless attacks on civilians, has also entrenched resistance among ordinary Gazans, who now perceive Israel as undertaking a war of extermination.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
Palestinians and Israeli Jews also came to regard the other side’s actions as fulfillments of their own national nightmares, ethnic cleansing for one and extermination for the other.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
The Holocaust led to the extermination of 6 million Jews — so recent that some who lived it are still living.
—Seth Lavin, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2025
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 1 Oct. 2025
An extermination of the brutes in the Middle East, presided over by Obama’s successors, has been followed by a swift cancellation by Trumpian decree of the postracial age.
—Pankaj Mishra, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
But the spread of agriculture and extermination of prairie dogs have sharply reduced the owl’s western populations.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
The four women, three of whom were Jewish, were all inmates of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ most notorious extermination camp outside the southern Polish city of Oświęcim.
—Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
Szames’ likeness and story are part of the RUTH exhibition, which opened in January and includes life-size cutouts and keepsakes of San Diego County survivors of the Nazi extermination campaign against European Jews.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
Yet this divide-and-conquer approach, combined with the relentless attacks on civilians, has also entrenched resistance among ordinary Gazans, who now perceive Israel as undertaking a war of extermination.
—Leila Seurat, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2025
Palestinians and Israeli Jews also came to regard the other side’s actions as fulfillments of their own national nightmares, ethnic cleansing for one and extermination for the other.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
The Holocaust led to the extermination of 6 million Jews — so recent that some who lived it are still living.
—Seth Lavin, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extermination
Noun
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The Wildcats hold a 10-8 edge over the Horned Frogs in their all-time series, including a 41-3 destruction of TCU in 2023 at Manhattan in the teams’ last meeting.—
Jim Barnes,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Cyrus — who married Hemsworth, 35, the following month after the destruction, before later separating in August 2019 — was left to grieve the many memories that were lost.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Murderers Bar shows us the sum of industrial achievement and the stakes of its devastation, human-made but altogether more than human.—
Anne Reeve,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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The new season will not lack for Academy Award hopefuls – among them, All the Walls Came Down, Ondi Timoner’s documentary about the devastation of the Eaton Fire in the Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles and efforts to rebuild.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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That has left dozens of species on the verge of extinction.—
Eyder Peralta,
NPR,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The Upper Cretaceous period, or late Cretaceous, represented the last true age of dinosaurs, stretching from about 100 million years ago to their extinction 66 million years ago.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And although police have uncovered networks seeking to cause havoc after the election, the fear is that authorities will not be able to expose them all.—
Christian Edwards,
CNN Money,
26 Sep. 2025
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Officials also warned of the havoc the network could have caused if left intact.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The redshirt freshman went 22 of 30 for 354 yards and four TDs in a 56-13 demolition of the Razorbacks.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
28 Sep. 2025
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Months after the plant shuttered in 2013, the university hired a demolition company to tear down the silos, in order to make way for a parking lot.—
Leo Bertucci,
Louisville Courier Journal,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Farley has managed to woo Wall Street more than his two most recent predecessors — both of whom departed the company after double-digit losses in Ford's stock price.—
Michael Wayland,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
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Following Indiana's loss to the Aces, Clark took to social media on X and shared a short and touching message to her teammates and to the Fever fan base.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extermination.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extermination. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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