† extirp, v. Obs. or arch.
(ɛkˈstɜːp)
Also 5–6 extyrpe, 5–7 ex(s)tirpe, (7 exsterpe).
[ad. F. extirp-er = Pr. extirpar, ad. L. ex(s)tirpāre: see extirpate.]
1. trans. To root up (plants); = extirpate 2.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xix. 73 To extirpe and waste alle the goodes comyng oute of the erth. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1641) I. 563 To extirpe and pluck the same [wild cockle] up by the roots. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 525 These reeds do multiplie..after the old plants be extirped & destroied. |
| absol. a 1643 G. Sandys Paraphr. Div. Poems, Eccl. iii. 4 A time to plant, t'extirpe: to Kill, to Cure. |
b. transf. = extirpate 2 b.
| 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 54 These banks..may be extirped if they be..a hinderance to the common good. |
c. = extirpate 2 c.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. A iv, Tyll that..which is the causer of the other be totally extyrped the healynge can nat be. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 25 Festring sore did ranckle yett within..Which to extirpe, he laid him privily Downe. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. vi. (1626) 123, I..am fit..His eyes, his tongue, or what did thee inforce, T'extirp. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet., Pref. Verse, [The teeth] filed down, or else extirped quite. |
2. To root out, exterminate (a family, sect, or nation); = extirpate 3.
| 1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes 216 The race of them is..not..extirped. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii iv. i. Tropheis 887 He..Wholly extirps the down-trod Jebusite. 1635 Heywood Hierarch. viii. 501 A large Patent..T'extirp the Witches thence. a 1672 Anne Bradstreet Poems (1678) 166 His seed to be extirpt, was destined. 1682 R. Burthogge An Argument (1684) 122 Antipædobaptisme..doth put it [the Church] in no small hazard of being utterly extirped. |
b. intr. To die out, root and all.
| 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Justin's Hist. 116 a, They should be vtterly rooted out, and the posteritye of their name extirp. |
3. With immaterial obj.; = extirpate 4.
(Austin's attempted revival of the word has not been imitated so far as our quots. show.)
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 430/1 This..fader..foughte ageynst the heretykes..and extyrped their heresye. 1552 Latimer Serm. Lord's Prayer vi. 47 God hath done greater thinges in..extirping out all popery. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 110. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iv. ii, To extirpe the memory Of such an act. 1623 Penkethman Handf. Hon. Pref., Wee may extirpe or root out vices. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. I. xxxiv. 250 These monasteries should be extirped. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1873) I. 132. Ibid. (1879) I. xxiv. 483. Ibid. (1879) II. 986 Errors or defects in the details are readily extirped or supplied. |
¶ erron. To speak abusively against. [Perh. arising from an ignorant misunderstanding of the phrase ‘the extirping of the Bishop of Rome’, common in controversial literature.]
| 1605 Rowley When you see me H, She did exsterp [ed. 1613 exstirpe, 1621, 1632 extirpe] against his Holinesse. Ibid. F ij b, Exstirpe. |
Hence exˈtirped ppl. a. exˈtirper, one who roots out or destroys. exˈtirping vbl. n.
| 1502 Arnolde Chron. 159 Encresar off all goodnes, Extirper of synners and..interpiter of dew lauwe. 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §1 The extirping and extinguishment of all suche subtill practised feoffementes. 1543 Grafton Contn. Harding 606 The extirpying and abholyshyng of the vsurped authoritee of the b[ishop] of Rome. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vii. §1 Extirpers of tyrants..were honoured but with the titles of worthies or demi-gods. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 172 A great journey into Wales for the extirpinge of that nation. |