eradicate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb kill in large numbers
    annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; wipe out; extinguish.
    • the plague wiped out an entire population
  2. verb destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    exterminate; uproot; root out; extirpate.
    • the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted" "root out corruption

WordNet

E*rad"i*cate transitive verb
Etymology
L. eradicatus, p. p. of eradicare to eradicate; e out + radix, radicis, root. See Radical.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Eradicated ; present participle & verbal noun Eradicating
Definitions
  1. To pluck up by the roots; to root up; as, an oak tree eradicated.
  2. To root out; to destroy utterly; to extirpate; as, to eradicate diseases, or errors.
    This, although now an old an inveterate evil, might be eradicated by vigorous treatment. Southey.
    Syn. -- To extirpate; root out; exterminate; destroy; annihilate.

Webster 1913