exterminating

verb

present participle of exterminate
as in eradicating
to destroy all traces of hope that the fumigant exterminates the whole colony of cockroaches, for any survivors may be resistant to any poison

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of exterminating Arfuso’s short depicts two synthetic entities who play at exterminating human beings, monitoring the progress of their plan through a network of surveillance cameras. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026 How to Deal With Indoor Spiders Identifying and exterminating what other pests have drawn spiders inside will go a long way in reducing their presence around the house. — Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 7 Aug. 2026 Teller also warns that exterminating hives can harm native pollinators, such as bumblebees and wasps, through the insecticides used. — Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026 Ahead, Miller and Eric Benson, PhD, professor emeritus and extension entomologist at Clemson University, share their expert advice for identifying, exterminating, and preventing bed bugs in your home. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 23 Jan. 2026 Last year, a leading AfD candidate for the European Parliament insisted that not all members of the Nazi SS paramilitary (responsible for rounding up and exterminating Jews) were criminals. — Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025 While the sicko elites bask in the violence, Kawaji sees the Kodoku as a means of exterminating the remaining samurai, who have staged multiple rebellions against the Japanese empire. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Nov. 2025 So New Zealand has set a goal of exterminating rats, possums and other invasive animals that threaten the country’s biodiversity. — NPR, 13 Oct. 2025 Robots built Trantor and the Galactic Empire, and then humans took those gifts and turned on their creation, hunting down and exterminating all robots. — Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exterminating
  1. eradicating
  2. erasing
  3. abolishing
  4. destroying
Verb
  • But somehow, in the midst of all this frat-boy revelry, Ilya is able to outline his vision for the future, one in which AI will have solved numerous human problems, including eradicating not only cancer but also loneliness and unhappiness.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
  • This park is the result of the Tompkins’ passion for this part of the world and their desire to rewild this part of Chile that had been overfarmed and overgrazed to the point of almost eradicating its native flora and fauna.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of eradicating
Verb
  • Wallace was flagged for pass interference against Denver, erasing an interception.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The Kospi, heavily weighted in chipmaker titans Samsung and SK Hynix, closed at a six-month low, erasing all of its gains since April.
    — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of erasing
Verb
  • Yet abolishing Greek life altogether is far from an easy proposition.
    — Brittany Shammas, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The administration initially talked about abolishing the agency, arguing that states and communities could deal with disasters on their own.
    — Dana R. Fisher, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of abolishing
Verb
  • One crab can eat more than 40 juvenile soft-shell clams in a day, while also destroying seagrass habitats.
    — Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
  • And then a seven-hour-long GRB came along—acting like a Death Star whose planet-destroying beam refused to switch off—that defied all explanation.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of destroying

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exterminating
extermination
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Cite this Entry

“Exterminating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exterminating. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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