disinfestv.
/dɪsɪnˈfɛst/ transitive. To rid (a person, building, etc.) of infesting insects, vermin, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > remove vermin from [verb (transitive)]
vermin1573
disinfest1920
1920 Lancet 2 Oct. 681/2 The term ‘disinfestation’ or ‘to disinfest’ was employed during the war to differentiate the two processes.
1936 Discovery Apr. 116/2 The task of thoroughly disinfesting slum property.
Derivatives
ˌdisinfeˈstation n. the process of disinfesting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun]
pest control1912
disinfestation1920
1920 Lancet 2 Oct. 681/1 (heading) Disinfection and disinfestation in the field.
1936 Discovery Apr. 116 Hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, is the material most generally used nowadays for disinfestation.
1942 Times 21 Sept. 5/3 Typhus, which is louse-borne,..was overcome by active measures of disinfestation.
1959 Times 7 Dec. (Agric. Suppl.) p. vi/4 The use of radiation..could be usefully applied for the disinfestation of products handled in bulk.
1966 Listener 10 Mar. 352/1 The irradiation method has great economic potential in..the disinfestation of dried and smoked fish, the disinfestation of dried fruits, [etc.].
1970 H. Braun Parish Churches xix. 225 Disinfestation is nowadays possible, but requires a desperate amount of scraping away of ruined timber before the beetle can be reached and destroyed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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