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.

Definitions of extirpate
  1. verb
    destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    synonyms: eradicate, exterminate, root out, uproot
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    type of:
    destroy, destruct
    do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of
  2. verb
    pull up by or as if by the roots
    synonyms: deracinate, root out, uproot
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    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
  3. verb
    surgically remove (an organ)
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    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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