exterminate meaning and definition

EXTERMINATE verb

Definition of exterminate (verb)

1. kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many
   • "Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe"
   • synonyms: kill off
2. destroy completely, as if down to the roots
   • "the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted" "root out corruption"
   • synonyms: eradicate, extirpate, root out, uproot