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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Extirpate


EX'TIRPATE, verb transitive [Latin extirpo; ex and stirps, root.]

1. To pull or pluck up by the roots; to root out; to eradicate; to destroy totally; as, to extirpate weeds or noxious plants from a field.

2. To eradicate; to root out; to destroy wholly; as, to extirpate error or heresy; to extirpate a sect.

3. In surgery, to cut out; to cut off; to eat out; to remove; as, to extirpate a wen.