Extermination
/ɪkˌstɜːrmɪˈneɪʃən/
Definitions
The act of causing the death of every member of a group or species; complete destruction.
/ɪkˌstɜːrmɪˈneɪʃən/
The act of killing or destroying completely.
The extermination of the dinosaurs is still a topic of scientific study.
💡 Simply: Imagine you have a bunch of ants in your kitchen. Extermination is like when you get rid of all of them, completely wiping them out. It's about destroying something entirely.
👶 For kids: When you get rid of all of something, like all the bugs in a garden, that's extermination.
More Examples
The government's policy was aimed at the extermination of the rebel forces.
The environmentalists fought against the extermination of the rainforest.
How It's Used
"The extermination of the Jewish population during the Holocaust was a horrific event."
"The extermination of invasive species is sometimes necessary to protect native ecosystems."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Idioms & expressions
extermination camp
A concentration camp designed and built by the Nazis during World War II specifically to exterminate Jews and other groups.
"The extermination camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau are testaments to the horrors of the Holocaust."
From Latin exterminare, meaning 'to drive out, expel, or destroy'. The word evolved through Old French, reflecting a sense of complete destruction or elimination.
The term became particularly prominent in the context of the Holocaust, referring to the systematic killing of Jews and other targeted groups.
Memory tip
Think of 'terminal' – bringing something to its end, completely destroying it.
Word Origin
"to drive out, expel, destroy"