| / English Dictionary |
EXTINCTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning
Example:
the extinction of the lights
Synonyms:
extinction; extinguishing; quenching
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)
Derivation:
extinguish (put an end to; kill)
extinguish (put out, as of fires, flames, or lights)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus
Synonyms:
experimental extinction; extinction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
conditioning (a learning process in which an organism's behavior becomes dependent on the occurrence of a stimulus in its environment)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Complete annihilation
Example:
they think a meteor cause the extinction of the dinosaurs
Synonyms:
extermination; extinction
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
annihilation; disintegration (total destruction)
Derivation:
extinguish (kill in large numbers)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
action; activity; natural action; natural process (a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings))
Meronyms (parts of "extinction"):
absorption ((physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium)
scattering (the physical process in which particles are deflected haphazardly as a result of collisions)
Sense 5
Meaning:
No longer in existence
Example:
the extinction of a species
Synonyms:
defunctness; extinction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
death (the absence of life or state of being dead)
Sense 6
Meaning:
No longer active; extinguished
Example:
the extinction of the volcano
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("extinction" is a kind of...):
inaction; inactiveness; inactivity (the state of being inactive)
Attribute:
extinct ((of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive)
Context examples:
Given the name Nemesis, this theoretical trouble maker has been proposed as a reason behind an apparent 27-million-year cycle of extinctions on Earth, including the one that saw off most of the dinosaurs.
(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
New research from the University of Cambridge identifies key anti-cancer drugs which could be trialled as a treatment for these diseases, which are threatening Tasmanian devils with extinction.
(Human anti-cancer drugs could help treat transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils, University of Cambridge)
Walrus-hunting and the ivory trade were likely the cause of the extinction, one of the earliest examples of commercially driven overexploitation of marine resources.
(Extinction of Icelandic walrus coincides with Norse settlement, National Science Foundation)
Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson, upon the day that I crown my career by the capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal in Europe.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Although titanosaurs became one of the most successful dinosaur groups before the mass extinction capping the Age of Dinosaurs, their early evolutionary history remains obscure, and Mnyamawamtuka helps reveal those beginnings.
(New dinosaur with heart-shaped tail offers clues to evolution of Africa's ecosystems, National Science Foundation)
Almost 40% of global land plant species are categorized as very rare, and these species are most at risk for extinction as climate continues to change.
(Nearly 40% of plant species are very rare, and vulnerable to climate change, National Science Foundation)
A major conference to be held at the Vatican is bringing together prominent biologists, ecologists and economists as part of the Biological Extinction conference in a bid to halt the mass extinction.
(Nearly Half the Planet's Species Could Be Wiped Out by the End of This Century, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
When taken at a global scale, fossil records indicate that plant species are going extinct at rates hundreds of times faster than the natural extinction rate, said Forest Isbell, a co-author of the study.
(Plant biodiversity struggles to return in wake of agricultural abandonment, National Science Foundation)
Time, she knew, must be allowed for this being thoroughly done; and she could suppose herself but an indifferent judge of such matters in general, and very inadequate to sympathise in an attachment to Mr. Elton in particular; but it seemed to her reasonable that at Harriet's age, and with the entire extinction of all hope, such a progress might be made towards a state of composure by the time of Mr. Elton's return, as to allow them all to meet again in the common routine of acquaintance, without any danger of betraying sentiments or increasing them.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
And so well was she able to answer her own expectations, that when she joined them at dinner only two hours after she had first suffered the extinction of all her dearest hopes, no one would have supposed from the appearance of the sisters, that Elinor was mourning in secret over obstacles which must divide her for ever from the object of her love, and that Marianne was internally dwelling on the perfections of a man, of whose whole heart she felt thoroughly possessed, and whom she expected to see in every carriage which drove near their house.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
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