extirpate

The verb extirpate originally meant "to weed out by the roots." Now you can use it more broadly to describe getting rid of something completely.

Use the verb extirpate when you mean to destroy completely or get rid of completely. If you came home from vacation with your luggage infested by bedbugs, you will need to call an exterminator to extirpate them. The dodo bird was extirpated due to hunting and the introduction of predators in their habitat.

Primary Meanings of extirpate

1.
 v
destroy completely, as if down to the roots
2.
 v
surgically remove (an organ)
Full Definitions of extirpate
1

v destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Synonyms:
eradicate, exterminate, root out, uproot
Type of:
destroy, destruct
do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of

v pull up by or as if by the roots

Synonyms:
deracinate, root out, uproot
Types:
stub
pull up (weeds) by their roots
Type of:
displace, move
cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense
2

v surgically remove (an organ)

Type of:
remove, take, take away, withdraw
remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract

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