Associations to the word «Exterminate»

Wiktionary

EXTERMINATE, verb. (transitive) To kill all of a population, usually deliberate and especially applied to pests.
EXTERMINATE, verb. (figuratively) (transitive) To bring a definite end to, finish completely. A rather strong word that implies that what has been ended won't resurface.

Dictionary definition

EXTERMINATE, verb. Kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many; "Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe".
EXTERMINATE, verb. Destroy completely, as if down to the roots; "the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted" "root out corruption".

Wise words

Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses.
William Butler Yeats