'Extinction' definitions:
Definition of 'extinction'
(from WordNet)
noun
No longer active; extinguished; "the extinction of the volcano"
noun
No longer in existence; "the extinction of a species" [syn: extinction, defunctness]
noun
The reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation
noun
Complete annihilation; "they think a meteor cause the extinction of the dinosaurs" [syn: extinction, extermination]
noun
A conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus [syn: extinction, experimental extinction]
noun
The act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning; "the extinction of the lights" [syn: extinction, extinguishing, quenching]
Definition of 'Extinction'
From: GCIDE
- Extinction \Ex*tinc"tion\, n. [L. extinctio, exstinction: cf. F. extinction.]
- 1. The act of extinguishing or making extinct; a putting an end to; the act of putting out or destroying light, fire, life, activity, influence, etc. [1913 Webster]
- 2. State of being extinguished or of ceasing to be; destruction; suppression; as, the extinction of life, of a family, of a quarrel, of claim. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Specifically: The ceasing to exist of a species of living organism, such as a plant or animal, whose numbers declined to the point where the last member of the species died and therefore no new members of the species could ever again be born. [PJC]
- Note: Extinctions have occurred many times throughout the history of life on Earth, and abundant evidence of the prior existence of animals and plants are found as fossils in rock formations many millions of years old. It is believed by some that due to the influence of man on the environment and destruction of habitat, the rate of extinction of species is now higher than at any previous time on this planet. Extinctions of some animals in recent years have actually been reliably recorded, such as that of the dodo bird. A remarkable example of extinction is that of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) in North America, which once numbered in the billions, and the last living member of which species was recorded as dying in captivity in 1914. [PJC]
Synonyms of 'extinction'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abolishment,
- abolition,
- abscission,
- amputation,
- annihilation,
- annulment,
- bane,
- biological death,
- blackout,
- blocking,
- burning out,
- burnout,
- cessation of life,
- choking,
- choking off,
- clinical death,
- controlling,
- crossing the bar,
- curtains,
- damping,
- death,
- death knell,
- debt of nature,
- decease,
- dematerialization,
- demise,
- departure,
- deracination,
- destruction,
- disappearance,
- disappearing,
- dispersion,
- dissipation,
- dissolution,
- dissolving,
- doom,
- dousing,
- dying,
- ebb of life,
- eclipse,
- elimination,
- end,
- end of life,
- ending,
- eradication,
- erasure,
- eternal rest,
- evanescence,
- evaporation,
- excision,
- exclusion,
- exit,
- expiration,
- extermination,
- extinguishment,
- extirpation,
- fadeaway,
- fadeout,
- fading,
- final summons,
- finger of death,
- fire fighting,
- flame-out,
- going,
- going off,
- going out,
- grave,
- hand of death,
- jaws of death,
- knell,
- last debt,
- last muster,
- last rest,
- last roundup,
- last sleep,
- leaving life,
- liquidation,
- loss of life,
- making an end,
- melting,
- mutilation,
- negation,
- nullification,
- occultation,
- parting,
- passing,
- passing away,
- passing over,
- perishing,
- purge,
- putting out,
- quenching,
- quietus,
- release,
- rescission,
- rest,
- reward,
- rooting out,
- sentence of death,
- shades of death,
- shadow of death,
- silencing,
- sleep,
- smotheration,
- smothering,
- snuffing,
- snuffing out,
- somatic death,
- stifling,
- strangulation,
- suffocation,
- summons of death,
- suppression,
- uprooting,
- vanishing,
- vanishing point,
- voiding,
- wipe