EXTINCT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does extinct mean? 

• EXTINCT (adjective)
  The adjective EXTINCT has 3 senses:

1. no longer in existence; lost or especially having died out leaving no living representatives

2. (of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive

3. being out or having grown cold

  Familiarity information: EXTINCT used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXTINCT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

No longer in existence; lost or especially having died out leaving no living representatives

Synonyms:

extinct; nonextant

Context example:

extinct laws and customs

Similar:

dead (not surviving in active use)

Also:

nonexistent (not having existence or being or actuality)

Antonym:

extant (still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive

Context example:

an extinct volcano

Similar:

dead (physically inactive)

Attribute:

extinction (no longer active; extinguished)

Antonym:

active ((of e.g. volcanos) capable of erupting)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Being out or having grown cold

Synonyms:

extinct; out

Context example:

the fire is out

Similar:

dead (not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat)

 Context examples 

Among those, 90 are confirmed or presumed extinct in the wild.

(Deadly fungal disease ‘caused greatest biodiversity loss ever recorded’, SciDev.Net)

The Night Parrot was feared extinct until it was spotted in 2013.

(Aboriginal Rangers Find Evidence of One of Australia’s Rarest Birds, VOA)

Organisms in this phylum include the Arachnids, Centipedes, Crustaceans, Insects and the extinct Trilobites.

(Arthropoda, NCI Thesaurus)

Paleontologists working in Tanzania have identified a new species of hyaenodont, a type of extinct meat-eating mammal.

(Fossil discovery in Tanzania reveals ancient bobcat-sized carnivore, National Science Foundation)

But the woolly mammoth existed until about 3,700 years ago when they finally went extinct.

(Genetic ‘Mutational Meltdown’ Doomed Woolly Mammoths, VOA)

The more a person’s genome carries genetic vestiges of Neanderthals, the more certain parts of his or her brain and skull resemble those of humans’ evolutionary cousins that went extinct 40,000 years ago.

(“Residual echo” of ancient humans in scans may hold clues to mental disorders, National Institutes of Health)

This is the first discovery of a cranial fossil from the extinct group of mammals called Gondwanatheria in the Southern Hemisphere.

(Scientists discover fossil of bizarre groundhog-like mammal on Madagascar, NSF)

A pioneering study has identified the oldest evidence of HBV in the ancient remains and proved that viruses can become extinct.

(Oldest genetic evidence of Hepatitis B virus found in ancient DNA from 4,500 year-old skeletons, University of Cambridge)

The Billy is a hound that was created in the nineteenth century by M.G. Hublot who cross-bred the Ceris, Montaimboeuf, and Larrye (now all extinct).

(Billy, NCI Thesaurus)

A chain of extinct underwater volcanoes rising 1000m or higher above the sea floor, either flat-topped or peaked and located in the eastern North Atlantic.

(Dreizack seamounts, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)