exterminator

IPA/ɪkˈstɜːmɪneɪtə(r)/
KK[ɪkstˈɚmənˌetɚ]IPA/ɪkˈstɜːrmɪneɪtər/

exterminator — noun

  • exterminatorsingular
  • exterminatorsplural

1. a worker paid to remove unwanted pests such as insects, rats, and mice from buil

1.nounB2
Definition

a worker paid to remove unwanted pests such as insects, rats, and mice from buildings, usually using chemicals or traps

Example

Nora called an exterminator when she found cockroaches in the kitchen.

collocation: call an exterminator

The exterminator sprayed the basement walls and the ants were gone.

Common collocations
  • call an exterminator
  • hire an exterminator
  • bring in an exterminator
  • the exterminator arrives
  • the exterminator sprays
Synonyms
  • pest controller

    more formal industry term; often used on official service labels

  • fumigator

    specifically one who uses gas or chemical fumes, narrower than exterminator

Usage Note

Used almost exclusively for a paid professional who handles infestations, not for someone who casually kills a single bug or mouse.

Common Mistakes

I killed a spider in the bathroom — I am the family exterminator!' (said jokingly about casual pest-killing).
We called an exterminator to deal with the termite damage in the walls.
'exterminator' refers to a professional hired for the job, not casual pest-killing.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Exterminator is the most common everyday term in American English for someone who removes pests from a property. Pest controller and pest control technician are more formal, often used in British English and on official service vans or invoices. Fumigator is narrower — it refers specifically to someone who uses gas or chemical fumes to kill pests, not traps or other methods. If the worker sprays liquid chemicals rather than releasing gas, exterminator is the better choice. Example: 'The fumigator sealed the entire house and pumped in gas for the termites,' versus 'The exterminator set traps in the attic for the squirrels.'

pest controllerfumigatorpest control technician

Common collocations

Phrases

  • call an exterminator
  • hire an exterminator
  • bring in an exterminator

Prepositions

  • exterminator for

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin exterminare, meaning 'to drive out or expel beyond the boundary,' formed from ex- ('out') and terminus ('boundary, limit'). It entered English through French in the 1500s with the broader meaning 'to destroy utterly.' The modern sense of a professional pest remover emerged in the early 1900s as pest control became a recognised trade in growing cities.