Library / English Dictionary

ERADICATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Kill in large numbers

Example:

the plague wiped out an entire population

Synonyms:

annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; eradicate; extinguish; wipe out

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "eradicate" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Verb group:

decimate (kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Example:

root out corruption

Synonyms:

eradicate; exterminate; extirpate; root out; uproot

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "eradicate" is one way to...):

destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

eradication (the complete destruction of every trace of something)

eradicator (someone who exterminates (especially someone whose occupation is the extermination of troublesome rodents and insects))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Iobenguane localizes to adrenergic tissue and, in radioiodinated forms, may be used to image or eradicate tumor cells that take up and metabolize norepinephrine.

(Iobenguane I-131, NCI Thesaurus)

SARS-CoV-1 was eradicated by intensive contact tracing and case isolation measures and no cases have been detected since 2004.

(New coronavirus stable for hours on surface, National Institutes of Health)

The autologous cultured AML-specific CTLs may eradicate residual AML cells.

(Autologous Cultured Acute Myeloid Leukemia-specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)

Immunotherapy has led to remarkable results for some patients’ cancers, eradicating difficult-to-treat tumors and, in some cases, causing complete remission of disease.

(Harnessing T-cell “stemness” could enhance cancer immunotherapy, National Institutes of Health)

Understanding how species adapt their behaviour once predators have been eradicated – and how quickly this occurs - could better inform efforts to support the recovery of a target species.

(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)

This approach could be particularly useful to help eradicate resistant biofilms — layers of bacteria that form for example in industrial water pipes and are hard to remove.

(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

New therapies that specifically target and eradicate these cancer stem cells are needed to prevent tumors growing and spreading, but for that there needs to be more clarity around the target.

(‘Energetic Cancer Cells’ May Be Origin of Cancer Spread, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But she could not eradicate nature: nor will it be eradicated 'till this mortal shall put on immortality.'

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The administration of high-dose chemotherapy, with or without total body irradiation, to eradicate the underlying disease and/or ablate the immune system of the patient.

(Myeloablative chemotherapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Immunization with MoAb 3622W94 may elicit immune responses, which could result in eradicating tumor cells expressing 17-1A antigen.

(Monoclonal Antibody 3622W94, NCI Thesaurus)