Assassinate vs Exterminate - What's the difference?
assassinate | exterminate |
To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons.
* , II.29:
(figuratively) To harm, ruin, or defame severely or destroy by treachery, slander, libel, or obscure attack.
* Dryden
* Milton
(obsolete) Assassination, murder.
(obsolete) An assassin.
* , vol.1, III.i.2:
To kill all of a population, usually deliberate and especially applied to pests.
(figuratively) To bring a definite end to, finish completely. A rather strong word that implies that what has been ended won't resurface.
As verbs the difference between assassinate and exterminate
is that assassinate is to murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons while exterminate is to kill all of a population, usually deliberate and especially applied to pests.As a noun assassinate
is (obsolete) assassination, murder.assassinate
English
Verb
- The Assassines, a nation depending of Phœnicia, are esteemed among the Mahometists.
- Your rhymes assassinate our fame.
- Such usage as your honourable lords / Afford me, assassinated and betrayed.
Noun
(en noun)- Yet again, many of them desperate hairbrains, rash, careless, fit to be assassinates , as being void of all fear and sorrow […].
See also
*Wikipedia article on Assassins* murder * regicide ----
exterminate
English
Verb
(exterminat)- We'll use poison to exterminate the rats.
- Even a mass birching at the public school failed to exterminate truancy.
