extinction

1. 1.

   no longer active; extinguished

   “the extinction of the volcano”

   Broaderinaction
2. 2.

   no longer in existence

   “the extinction of a species”

   Synonymsdefunctness

   Broaderdeath
3. 3.

   the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation

   Broadernatural process

   Partsabsorptionscattering
4. 4.

   complete annihilation

   “they think a meteor cause the extinction of the dinosaurs”

   Synonymsextermination

   Broaderannihilation
5. 5.

   a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus

   Synonymsexperimental extinction

   Broaderconditioning
6. 6.

   the act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning

   “the extinction of the lights”

   Synonymsextinguishingquenching

   Broadertermination

Other forms of extinction

plural

extinctions·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about extinction

What does extinction mean?

extinction means "no longer active; extinguished". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in extinction?

extinction has 3 syllables: ex-tinc-tion. The stress falls on "tinc". In IPA it is /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/.

What is another word for extinction?

Close synonyms include defunctness, extermination, experimental extinction, extinguishing, quenching. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is extinction a common word?

extinction is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with extinction?

1 word rhymes with extinction. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.