extirpate
/ˈɛkstəːpeɪt
/verb [with object]
Eradicate or destroy completely: timber wolves were extirpated from New England more than a century ago...
- And the roots of the 1950 conflict have yet to be extirpated.
- Certainly whites must keep extirpating vestiges of racism, even within their own souls.
- Much as one would wish it so, politically motivated violence directed at civilians by desperate people can no more be extirpated than can ‘evil’ itself.
Synonyms
weed out, destroy, eradicate, stamp out, root out, eliminate, suppress, crush, put down, put an end to, put a stop to, do away with, get rid of, wipe out, abolish, extinguish, quash, squash
Derivatives
extirpation
/ noun ...- The extirpation of beaver - a keystone species - in 1900 was especially devastating to the watershed.
- But if they will be hated and chastised no matter what they do, what holds them back from a truly ruthless extirpation of their enemy?
- These are the northern species the committee believes are facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
extirpator
/ noun ...- Most people would notice a correlation like that, just in terms of cause, effect, the apparent proximity of events, etc., but not our eagle-eyed extirpator of heresy.
- The Emperor was depicted as an imperator submitting himself to the service of the Church - an ideal Christian prince, Defender of Christendomand extirpator of heresy.
- But where the land is unequal, it is better to make use of a narrower extirpator, and which has not so many tines.
Origin
Late Middle English (as extirpation): from Latin exstirpare, from ex- 'out' + stirps 'a stem'.